Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith
by Evil Nazgul
Summary: I know this thing should go in crossovers but I'm afraid Tolkien-lovers would eat me alive. In this story Takato, Henry, Rika and their digimon got into Middle-Earth accidently Reviews are appreciated
1. A trip to museum

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas-Tirith. Chapter 1 – A trip to museum.

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Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Hello, this is another of my rather random crossovers. Hoping to receive some reviews about my work. To read the story and understand everything reader must have some rudimentary knowledge about both "Lord of the Rings" and "Digimon tamers season three". The idea was given by Fergus Flamacron.

P.S: If there are some radical Tolkien-fans reading this, please, don't flame me! I already know what you could write to me.

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In this chapter you will find out how exactly our heroes made it to the world of Middle-Earth…

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It was one summer day. The weather was fine, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everyone on streets seemed to be joyful and happy. The only person who was not so delighted by that wonderful time was Rika Nonaka, an 11 year old girl, and who enjoyed spending her time in her room, with lights off. She had several reasons to do so. She didn't have too many friends to hang out with, and there was no reason to go outside alone. Plus she liked to sit in the dark and think about something, just about anything.

It was then, when the tranquility and silence was broken by a sound of ringing cell – phone. Soon afterwards the darkness was broken also by a dim light of a small screen. Rika looked at it for a couple of seconds, reading who the person that called her was, and pushed the green button.

"Yeah, Gogglehead, what do you want this time?" she asked directly, with a rather harsh intonation, without even saying hello. Although she and Takato were friends for quite a while, Rika was having problems with getting rid of her tomboy demeanor. On the other end of the line there was heard some confused mumbling, and then Takato finally answered with a beaten voice:

"Uh, I'm sorry, I guess I caught you in a bad mood. I'll call back later, sort of…" and wanted to end the call, but was halted by Rika's words:

"Hold it, Gogglehead, I'm not in a bad mood. I'm just, you know, being myself. Now, why have you called?" she asked with a much milder intonation. She felt a bit sorry for startling the poor boy.

"Err, well, I sort of won 6 tickets to an opening of a new museum, so I am wondering if you would like to come. Henry will come too." Takato said with a much happier voice.

"Wait, I don't get it. Me, Henry, you, that equals 3. Who are the other three guys?" she asked suspiciously. She didn't want to meet with Kazu or Kenta. She hated those guys quite a bit, but didn't show it because they were Takato's friends.

"Our Digimon, of course." A paradox reply came.

"Hold on for a sec. Hey, Renamon!" Rika called, and in a second a shadow materialized in the dark corner of the room.

"Yes, Rika?" the digital kitsune asked with a soft voice.

"Do you wanna go to a museum?" Rika asked her, expecting a negative answer, because she knew Renamon hated to waste time on such things. It was to her amazement, when Renamon suddenly replied:

"Yes." Rika started at her Digimon in amazement for a couple of seconds, and muttered:

"Well now, that was unexpected."

"You know that I will follow you anywhere you go, Rika. And besides, I enjoy learning something new about humans." Renamon explained softly. Rika blinked for a couple of times and picked up her phone again.

"Alright, count me and Renamon in." she said promptly.

"Really? That's great! We will all meet up in the park tomorrow, you know, the usual spot, at 10.00. See you there! Bye!" Takato said with a rather cheerful intonation and ended the call.

"Finally, I thought I would die here from boredom…" Rika sighed as she turned off her phone and the room was covered in darkness again. She sighed deeply and stared at the darkness with a blank glare.

"Rika, is everything alright?" Renamon suddenly inquired.

"Yes, everything's alright… Just great…" Rika sighed out. Ever since the defeat of D-Reaper she didn't quite have the occasion to hang out with her two best friends, because they were busy all the time, so she looked forward to the upcoming tour, yet still being saddened a bit by the fact that such occasions didn't come around too often.

…The next day Rika, accompanied by her faithful digimon, finally got to the park. They were not in a hurry, because they knew they were not late. At the big tree she spotted Henry, who was leaning on it, looking at his watch, and Terriermon, who was on his head like a hat.

"10.00. Right on time." He commented Rika and Renamon approached him.

"You know me, I'm never late. Speaking of late, where's Gogglehead?" she asked with her usual not caring intonation.

"Dunno. But he will be here, otherwise…" Henry replied in exactly the same intonation.

"Otherwise he will be in deep trouble…" Rika said a bit viciously.

"Should I go and look for Takato and his digimon?" Renamon mildly offered her assistance.

"Don't waste your time. Like Henry said, he'll be here." Rika said and leaned to the tree also. They waited for ten minutes, when suddenly loud running was heard, and in a second Takato appeared before them, breathing deeply. Apparently, he ran all the way from his house to the park. Guilmon was with him, but he was not that tired, he enjoyed an exercise.

"Well well well, good to see you, Takato! Fashionably late as usual huh?" Rika asked with a bit of nasty laugh, but this was ignored pretty much, because Takato was breathing as a train.

"Here … are … tickets … sorry … I'm … late…" he managed to say between breathes and gave them their tickets.

"I was afraid you would forget them at home like you did last time." Henry teased his friend a little bit and received a nasty glare from him.

"That time … it was an accident! I swear!" Takato exclaimed between breaths.

"And the time before…" Henry continued to remember all times Takato actually forgot something important.

"Alright alright I give up! Just … let's get it on shall we!" Gogglehead replied, while sounding a bit defeated and irritated. Renamon and all other digimon watched that entire scene while barely holding laughs.

"Humans… They just keep amusing me." She said in her calm intonation.

"Hey! I though you said once you were through with that smarty-face attitude of yours!" Terriermon exclaimed jokingly from atop of Henry's head.

"I am allowed to change my mind once in a while, am I not?" Renamon replied to that with a question of her own, and gave the green little digimon an icy glare. She was joking that way, scaring the guts out of poor "defenseless" Terriermon, a strange sense of humor, it seemed.

"Can't argue against that." Terriermon replied quickly and went down, hiding behind Henry from that glare Renamon was giving him.

"Hey Renamon! Don't be mean!" Henry exclaimed as he picked up his digimon form the ground and now held him in his hands.

"Don't worry, I won't." Renamon replied through chuckle. That gave creeps to everyone, she rarely laughed.

"Err, alright. Let's just go to the museum shall we?" Takato quickly proposed and the whole group went down the road to the museum…

…In a little less than a half on an hour they have already reached the museum. It was not exactly a high building, unlike the rest of the buildings in Shinjuku district. It was made of stone, and looked more like an old theatre. In fact, it really was a theatre before, but now it was completely remade.

A rather old man wearing a strict official costume was waiting outside the door. At first the children thought this man was a porter, but at a closer look Takato recognized him a man who was the owner of this establishment. He saw that guy on TV earlier.

"Welcome, children and … ehem, digimon, to our humble museum of ancient culture!" the old man exclaimed a bit cheerfully. But it was obvious that he was a bit startled with the presence of digimon around. And who could blame him? It has been only a short time since digimon became known to the society, and people were cautious, if not hostile, towards them. The old man opened the door and let them all in.

"Well, um, thanks … sort of. Here are the tickets, we won them in a lottery you made and … um, where are all the people?" Takato asked with a bit of confusion. There were no people inside the mansion, only wind wandered in long and empty halls of the museum.

"Unfortunately our "grand" opening didn't draw too much attention due to … recent events that took place." The owner replied and gave a tired and displeased glare towards the digimon. They felt that.

"You are the only visitors we have so far… And you won the tickets because only one of you participated in our lottery… That a bit sad, really, to know that so many people are missing the fascinating exposition that we have… Or perhaps nowadays history is not so fascinating any more…" the old man added sadly. He was looking pitiful, as would any person who loves history and sees that no one else cares about it. A bit of guilt struck everybody in the group, because deep in their hearts they knew that they only came here to hang out, and not to share this passion for history.

"So, since you're the only visitors, the museum is practically yours to explore. You may enter almost everywhere, besides restricted areas for personnel. Do you need a guide to show you around? I will gladly show you around." The owner proposed his assistance.

"Thank you. We would appreciate that." Rika replied politely. That answer drew an honest smile at the old man's face.

"Very well then, I suggest you follow me and we'll begin our tour. Our museum has various exhibits to show the progress of mankind starting from the Stone Age till the Modern Time. First evidence of existence of a human society was found in…" he began to tell a brief course of history of mankind and civilizations as the group entered the first of vast halls of the mansion…

… They wandered the museum for more than 2 hours, following the owner, who was a sturdy historian, obviously, listening to his passionate monologue about the history of ancient times and about different ancient cultures throughout the globe. At some parts it was actually interesting, and sometimes boring.

The museum indeed had a wonderful collection of different exhibits, starting from knifes made out of stone and finishing with weaponry and other things which were only about 60 years old. When the whole group passed through a hall which had exhibits dedicated to Mayan culture, one particular thing attracted Takato's attention.

It was a strange contraption made out of white stone. It looked like a white table, and on top of it where drawn some strange symbols. In the center there was a circle made out of letters, forming a sign of some sort. And around that circle there were some more symbols, each one differed from another, making in total nine.

"Hey guys! Wait up!" he called as he noticed that the rest was moving away. That call stopped the rest of the group.

"What's the matter, Takato?" Henry asked and yawned.

"Check this out!" Takato replied as he pointed at the strange table with his finger, and accidently touched one of the symbols. Almost immediately afterwards, the symbol started to glow, and slowly all other symbols started to glow as well, with a golden yellow light.

"Whoa! What did you do peanut-brain?" Rika asked in amazement as she took a step back away from the strange artifact.

"I don't know I swear! Did I break it?!" Takato replied in confusion as the table began to shake, as well as the floor. The inner circle released a beam of light in the air. The old man who was giving them the tour, finally turned around and, when he saw that, ran back with screams:

"Back you fools! Back!!!" but it was too late… the light extended beyond the circle and embraced everyone who was around, and, after a brief spark, disappeared, alongside with the children and their digimon.

"Oh no… What have I done! Not again!" the owner of the museum said while not holding his tears and collapsed to the floor… The children and their digimon were gone…

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That's it, first chapter ready. Review the story, if it is not too much trouble =)


	2. Tower of Black Magic

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 2 – Tower of Black Magic.

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This time the whole thing goes in Middle-Earth =)

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… Rika was the first one to wake up. And the thing she felt immediately after she did was … cold. Rika didn't like the cold, every time she felt it she was getting a hunch that something bad was about to happen. And that was proved once, when she got ambushed by Icedevimon. But this coldness differed from which Icedevimon was emanating. It was more like the coldness of earth, like the one of the graveyard.

She shivered and looked around. She found herself in a large and dark corridor. There were no lights, except for ones which were coming from the black marble walls, but these were some strange lights, of pale green color, they were like corpse-lights, which illuminated nothing.

Rika spotted her friends lying on the floor, still unconscious. There was no one else besides her and her friends, but Rika was getting the feeling that they are being watched. This spooked her quite a bit, as she rushed to her digimon in an attempt to wake her up.

"Renamon! Renamon wake up! Wake up, damn it!" Rika was constantly repeating while shaking Renamon's head. Soon these efforts gave results, as Renamon opened her eyes and clashed glares with her tamer.

"I'm alright." Rena reported as she rose from the ground and looked around. Soon, the others managed to wake up as well.

"Whoa, what the hell? Where are we?" Henry asked as he got up as well.

"I don't know. Creepy." Takato replied as he got up too.

"All I remember was that flash coming from the circle… After that a spark, and blank out. And here we are." He added.

"This is all your fault Gogglehead! You just had to touch that stupid round table now hadn't you! And now were stuck here, in the middle of nowhere!" Rika jumped at him with harsh accusations.

"Don't yell at Takato, Rika! How was he supposed to know that this damn artifact thingy did such things! It's not his fault and you know it!" Henry replied with a bit of harshness in his voice. This only happened when he was completely sure he was right.

"Alright alright! Break, break! Now, let's just calm down and answer a few simple questions: "Where are we?" and "How do we get out?"." Terriermon proposed from below. This sounded reasonable, so Rika restricted herself from saying something harsh again.

"Alright, but how about we turn on the lights before we do that? I can't see anything in that darkness!" she exclaimed.

"I have a flash-light!" Takato exclaimed cheerfully, and, after digging for a minute in his pockets, extracted a small flash-light.

"Well, that's good news…" Henry replied as Takato pushed the button and a little light came out. It vanished, however, in a couple of seconds.

"Damn… Batteries have expired!" Takato said and looked at the others.

"Typical. Why I'm not surprised?" Rika added a dry comment.

"Hey! It's no big deal! Guilmon, can you provide us with some lights?" he addressed to his dinosaur digimon.

"Roger." a short reply came from Guilmon as he released a small stream of fire from his mouth that could double as a torch. It lighted up things a little, but not much. It seemed like the darkness was not easy to vanish with mere fire.

"There's something wrong with this place…" Henry said as he made a step closer to all others. A strange howling wind appeared out of nowhere, it gave chills to the bone to everyone.

"Renamon, do you sense anyone or anything?" Rika demanded from her digimon.

"No…" Renamon replied as she tried to see anything through that pitch-black darkness that was surrounding them. A strange and horrible screech then pierced the air, and made everyone who had pants jump out of their pants. The screech was so horrible, it sent shivers even to the unwavering Renamon, who covered her ears with her paws not to hear it. It disappeared as fast as it reappeared, and dull silence filled the air once again.

"What… what was … that?" Rika mumbled as she and the others got even closer to each other. Her ankles were shaking and her face was expressing fear. The same reaction was with the boys.

"Err… Something tells me we're not welcome." Terriermon said and jumped to his tamer's hands.

"Yes, we should live this place…" Renamon agreed.

"It's just like the last time … with Icedevimon… I feel… I feel that I can't hide. Oh no…" Rika asked with a trembling voice. She was scared, and the others noticed that. But then the silence was pierced with another sound. It was not a shriek, it was more like a mix of a hiss and whisper.

"Too long…" these words echoed in the surroundings. It made everyone shiver even more, because now they knew … that someone, or some thing, was out there, covered by a cloak of darkness.

"Don't worry, Rika, what ever it is, I will do my best to protect you." Rika heard Renamon's voice from behind and felt her warm paws on her shoulders. But now she didn't cast her digimon away like she did in days long passed, because now she really needed such encouragement.

"Too long in the cold and the dark…" a sad hissing voice was heard again. It was coming from all directions, so no one was able to understand where exactly it was coming from.

"We are disturbed again…" another hissing voice was heard. It differed a bit from the one that was heard before, but only a little.

"Hm… A human…" the third one said in conclusion. They all were half-hisses, half-whispers, but they were not identical. Then, heavy steps were heard from al directions. They were simultaneous, and echoed in the empty corridors.

"They're coming. Whatever it is, be ready, Guilmon." Takato said to his digimon.

"I'm ready." Guilmon replied in his rather funny growling intonation. All digimon have moved forward, creating a sort of a defensive circle for their tamers, prepared to meet the possible attack. The steps were heard closer and closer, and every beat was like hitting directly in the cranium.

Suddenly, they appeared out of the darkness, one by one. They all looked the same, wrapped in their black cloaks, but it was obvious that the strangers were wearing armor beneath them. Their faces were hidden by darkness from under their hoods, and each of them bore a two-handed sword, which was glowing with a dim ghastly light. There were nine of them…

They came from all directions, forming a circle, surrounding the children and their digimon. There was nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. All digimon prepared to fight, and the children got their cards prepared, although their hands were shaking as they tried to overcome the overwhelming fear.

But the strangers didn't prove hostile at the moment. Their swords were pointed down, showing that they will not attack just yet. They just stayed at the place they stood at, and were stalking the newcomers. Both groups shared glares for about a minute, when one of the ghoulish strangers finally hissed:

"A child? Here? What are you doing in this dark place, child? Why disturb our sleepless rest?" this voice, unlike the others they heard before, was rather calm and peaceful.

"Sleepless rest? Are you some kind of g… ghost?" Henry asked and swallowed. He was scared too, as much as everyone else.

"Ghosts? Yes. I suppose we could be called ghosts…" one of the dark strangers replied thoughtfully.

"We are the Nazgul…"

"Ringwraiths…"

"Neither living nor dead…"

"We are that which grips the heart in fright…"

"Hearkens night…"

"And silences the light…" a choir of hissing voices replied. That answer gave shivers to everyone in the group again, as they now stalked the 9 strangers in fear.

"Does this mean … you will try to attack us now?" Renamon asked after a pause and made a step forward. She cared about her tamer greatly, and that was giving her strength to overcome any kind of fear.

"No, at least not at our own will…" one of the Nazgul hissed.

"We attack only when our master tells us to do so…"

"And here we are shielded from his influence. Not entirely, but still…" the other two added.

"What do you mean?" Takato exclaimed, as his natural curiosity overcame the necessity of keeping mouth shut.

"We will explain…" one of the Nazgul replied.

"We were not always horrible creatures beyond the grave you now see before thee…"

"We were once Men…"

"Great kings, commanders, wizards of Men…"

"But, although we had our power, wealth and glory, we wanted more…" his four brothers continued. The group stood petrified, listening to that unexpected revelation.

"And then our master, Sauron, gave us nine rings of power…" one of them continued.

"So strong we thought, so wrong…" the other one hissed sadly.

"These rings gave us power beyond our imagination. We saw the world in new colors, we were able to disappear whenever we wished, they gave us magical powers, and a life span, that seemed to last forever…" the Nazgul that began the whole speech told.

"Lords of unending life we called ourselves… So proud…" one of the Nazgul hissed with an irony.

"Well in the end we were not so proud. For everything in this world people have to pay, for those powers were not ours to begin with… And we paid for ours … with our flesh and blood, and we became slaves to our master's will." A new voice was heard. One of the Nazgul who stood silent for all that time has spoken with his rather harsh hissing intonation.

"That is so sad… I feel sorry for you…" Takato managed to say after hearing this story. He was the only one of the group who was able to feel compassion towards all creatures, even such as these.

"Pity? I'LL SHOW YOU PITY YOU PATHETIC WORM!!!" the Nazgul that had a harsh voice hissed in anger and was about to charge at the children and digimon with his sword, but was grabbed by his hand by the other Nazgul.

"No, Murazor! Don't! That is exactly what HE wants!" the other one said with a rather mild and calm intonation, obviously referring to his dark master. With an angry hiss the Nazgul that wanted to attack stood back to his position in the circle. This incident startled pretty much everyone.

"That was close…" Henry whispered to all others.

"Almost too close…" Rika replied.

"What is this place?" Renamon asked seriously.

"This is Minas Morgul, our dark citadel… But how did you get here, children? You still haven't told us…"

"How were you able to pass the silent watchers?"

"And sneak passed behind the guards?" the Nazgul asked again.

"We ended up here by accident. A strange artifact that looked like a table with nine symbols on it and a circle in the center sent us here. If you will show us the way to leave your dark domain, we will do so, and will not disturb you any longer." Renamon said confidently. She hoped they would not have to fight their way out if the citadel.

"Leave? Yes, you should leave immediately. Before our master will sense your presence through the barrier that we have created and will order us to slaughter you for his own twisted pleasure." The harsh-voiced Nazgul, named Murazor, hissed.

"Wait! Maybe there is some way you can free yourself from his evil grasp! Maybe we can help!" Takato proposed. He just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Shut up Gogglehead before you anger him again!" Rika hissed, but it was too late. The Nazgul was already stalking Takato.

"Don't give us false hopes, little one. We are dead, as our faith … is dead." The Nazgul replied.

"Wait! I remember that once, back at Carn Dum, I was doing a research…" one of the others started to say, but suddenly received a fist in the face, and took a few steps back, hissing in pain.

"Shush you fool! Were you not punished enough the last time when master found out about such things? Never mention this ever again! Follow me, you have no time to lose." the one named Murazor hissed in anger, as he addressed to the children and their digimon.

In silence, they have followed him, as the other Nazgul disappeared in the darkness again. Through the door they exited the structure they were in, and followed to the outer yard of the citadel. From outside they understood that they were all this time in a giant tower, surrounded by a creepy magical light. The outer yard was filled with many strange creatures. Flying beasts that looked like dragons, many armed creatures that resembled humans a bit, and they all were throwing glares full of hatred towards the strange intruders.

They followed the Nazgul to some sort of a stable. There were many horses there, but they all were strange, unusually calm, and all black as the night itself and which had red eyes. The Nazgul took one of them out, and said:

"This steed will provide transportation… You will ride east from here, until you reach the White city, Minas Tirith… You will reach it in three days time… If you will run into the soldiers of the white tree, don't fight them. They will take you where you need…" he hissed with a tone that didn't accept rejections.

"There is one more thing… When you reach the White city, find there a man named Mithrandir. Deliver him this…" he added and gave the children some sort of scroll under a magical seal…

…The tall dark gates of Minas Morgul have opened, releasing the steed with three kids plus one digimon, Terriermon, on it. Renamon and Guilmon were able to pass distances on their own.

"Um… Thanks, whoever you are…" Henry said as he turned back for a second.

"Be gone now! And pray your God you will never meet us again… never come back to the cursed valley of Minas Morgul…" a ghoulish voice was heard from the gates, as if it was the fortress was speaking, and the gates resembled the mouth of the beast. The group took of from Minas Morgul … towards Minas Tirith…

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The second chapter done. I know that the Nazgul act off-canonical.


	3. Road

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 3 – Road.

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Another chapter ready. Hope you like the story so far. If you spotted any errors, both grammatical and characteristic, please in form me about those, so that I could correct them in order to improve the quality of the story. Also, reviews are appreciated.

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…Hours passed quickly as our heroes were on their way from the shadowy fortress of Minas Morgul. They already have passed the Morgul valley, so the sky cleared up a bit, but it still was looking like it would be raining soon.

The steed proved to be quite useful, as a mean of transportation, because, even though Renamon was able to evolve in Kiubimon, she was not able to hold that form for a long time to perform as an alternative transport.

They were going for quite some time at an impressive speed, as their horse's stamina allowed traveling with a speed of 15 kilometers per hour for quite a long period of time. All children plus Terriermon were on the horse's back, and Renamon and Guilmon were running next to it.

"… Still I didn't get it. If those creepy ghost guys were as evil as they described themselves, why have they just let us out?" Rika inquired with curiosity.

"I think they were not evil, but were forced to become such, by the power they cannot fight against. And looks like they are still trying to resist…" Henry replied thoughtfully.

"One of them mentioned some research and a place called Carn-Dum. I wonder what is that place anyway?" Takato asked on their way.

"I don't know, probably another city of some sort. Yet this word only gives me associations of "carnage" and "doom". Creepy." Henry replied to that.

"Just like that Minas Morgul… It gives me chills just to remember it. I would rather spend a night in the graveyard than go to that place again." Rika added.

"I wonder what's in that letter tall dark 'n' scary wants us to deliver to that Mithrandir guy… Maybe a little peak wouldn't hurt…" Takato said as he took the sealed parchment and wanted to break the seal and open it, when he felt Rika's hand on his."

"Don't do it. Don't you remember what the Nazgul said about it?" she asked dimly.

"Err… no?" Takato replied n amazement. Rika sighed heavily when she heard that.

"Your curiosity will be the end of you one day Gogglebrain. He said "magically sealed". That means that if you will try to open it either you will fail simply or you will fail and get zapped by some malicious protective spell. GOT IT? So put that accursed thing back in your pocket and don't touch it!" she almost screamed because Takato was about to break the seal.

"Alright alright I'm sorry I'm sorry!" he replied with a bit of guilt and put the scroll back. He didn't want to anger Rika right about now, for he knew what the actual source of her frustration was. After all, they all were stuck in an unknown world, trapped even, just got majorly scared, and there was no sure way to get out of the situation soon. So he did his best to shut up…

"Why can't we just throw the stupid thing away? It's not like we gave any promise to deliver it somewhere." Terriermon stated from his tamer's hands.

"That would be unwise. I don't think our "hosts" will take it lightly if we just abandon their task. The parchment must contain something very important for it to be magically sealed." Renamon commented in her calm intonation.

"And besides, what else could we do around here? Not that we have anywhere to go, or some actual course of action to follow. We're like a twig in a river now – we follow the flux. Let's just hope it will lead us to something good…" Henry explained to his digimon, and no one could have argued with his words for now…

… Suddenly, a strange sound was heard. It made the horse stop, because it was quite loud, but nature of it remained a mystery for a minute. It was strange … yet so familiar…

"What was that?" Henry asked everybody.

"Err… That was my stomach. Sorry." Rika apologized, as se tried to hide the blush. She felt a little embarrassed.

"Speaking of stomach, I'm a bit hungry too. We haven't been eating since … well, since we left home, actually." Takato replied.

"Alright now, who has any food?" Henry asked loudly while looking at the rest of the group.

"Don't look at me, if I would have had any, I would have eaten it long ago." Rika replied to his questioning glare a bit irritated.

"Um… Just wait a second … there! I have two peanuts!" Takato exclaimed cheerfully as he extracted two peanuts from his pocket. By the looks of those things, they were kept there, like, forever.

"Yep, great. Just great. What do we supposed to eat now? At Digiworld we never experienced problems with that sort of thing!" Rika exclaimed also, as her irritation grew.

"AND I WANT BREAD!" Guilmon suddenly entered the conversation.

"Please, Guilmon, this is no time for jokes, and I think you could do a little time without bread." Takato replied tiredly. While the rest of them were chatting about what to do, Renamon was doing her best in trying to see what was far in front of them.

"There are some structures ahead. Probably a village. Maybe there we will find provisions you need." Renamon proposed suddenly.

"But we don't have any money to purchase any goods…" Takato replied sadly.

"Who says we need to buy something when we could simply take what we need?" Renamon inquired him with a rather sly grin on her face. But she had a point.

"It seems we don't have other way, and our predicament is dire. Renamon, can I entrust you in executing this task, once we get to the village?" Rika asked and looked at her digimon with a questioning glare.

"Of course." Renamon replied shortly. The group was coming closer to the village…

…Once they have arrived, a most horrible picture of destruction awaited them. What Renamon saw from afar as "structures" and "buildings" were actually all what was left of once prosperous village, as it was razed. The ground was burned, as well as everything else. The place was completely devastated. Only crows didn't leave this place, still hoping to find something to eat amongst the ruins. Their croaking was the only sound within the burned village, and only ghastly wind howled within those empty streets, once so vigorous and full of life and commotion.

It started to rain. Small annoying drops of water were coming from the sky, and once the sun was cloaked by grey clouds, everything started to look even more lifeless, hopeless and depressing.

"Great, no food, and now this stupid rain! It figures…" Rika started to complain at first but stopped, as she noticed no one was listening to her. Everybody was looking at what once was a village, full of people.

"This place… I wonder what happened here…" Henry said as he was moving slowly across the empty street, while not letting his small digimon out of his hands.

"Maybe it was a conflagration of some sort?" Takato proposed.

"I doubt it. Look…" Renamon replied from behind after she stopped in front of something which once was a door. There were about three or four arrows stuck in it. Black ones…

"This village was probably pillaged, and after that – razed. In medieval ages such things were common…" Rika commented as her digimon tried to get one of the arrows out of the door. The arrow shaft broke.

"The wood of this shaft is rather soggy and rotten. The attack was made quite a while ago. Anyone who did this is already long gone." Renamon concluded.

The rain was slowly growing into a storm. Wind was striking violently, rain was becoming stronger, and grey-black clouds cloaked the sky. Thunder and lightning were strong enough to scare the children, they never saw such storms back at Shinjuku, where they were safe in their houses. But now they were forced to seek shelter.

They found a structure which was a bit less damaged by the fire, it was once an old wind-mill. Probably it was not that much damaged because it was somewhat away from the other houses, and was not caught on fire, not entirely at least…

…They were forced to spend a night there, tired, scared, and hungry. They kept close to each other to keep warm, because the night was cold, under one sheet that they have found in there. But no one was able to sleep, because of the rumbling of the thunder, creaking of the mill as the strong wind made it shake. It was one long night…

…The morning came, but without a dawn, because, even after the storm has passed, dingy grey clouds still were covering the sky. With first bleak rays of sun, which barely had strength to cone through clouds, children and their digimon friends left their shelter. It was pretty early in the morning, but no one was able to sleep on an empty stomach.

"…That's it. We must find something to eat before my mood changes from bad to worse, and I'm sure no one wants to see that." Rika said tiredly as she looked around with an empty glare.

"Why I am not a digimon? They don't know what hunger is!" Takato started to complain.

"Henry! Henry! You should go and find some food! You don't look so good!" Terriermon said to his tamer, while taking residence upon his head. Henry didn't reply.

"Alright people! We should split up and find some grub to eat! Takato, you take your Guilmon and go west. Henry – you and your rabbit will go south. I, with Renamon, will go north. If you will find something eatable or useful, take it with you. We will meet here in an hour." Rika quickly gave orders, and no one had a better idea, so they split up and went to different directions…

…After an hour Rika and her digimon made it back to the rendezvous point. She noticed Takato and Guilmon already waiting for them. Takato was hiding something behind his back.

"So, Gogglehead, found anything?" Rika asked when she approached him.

"Just this small caldron. I figured out we need something to cook things in or at least to transport water in. I have also found a spring not too far away from here. Did you find anything?" Takato replied and showed her a small battered caldron full of water.

"This…" Rika replied and showed him two potatoes. They were fresh enough to eat, although it was not much.

"Good, perhaps we could boil them, and maybe Henry will find something too. Once he arrives and we'll have our little breakfast, we'll head on." Takato replied…

They waited for ten more minutes, but there were no sign of Henry. Rika was starting to grow impatient, and Takato – worried. But they were sure that there was nothing serious in being late, although they both knew Henry was never late to anything. Renamon, however, proved them otherwise.

"Wait… Quiet…" she said and made the children stop their chat.

"What?" they both asked at the same time.

"Shhh. Can't you hear it?" Renamon asked and everybody silenced as they tried to hear anything.

"I hear some claps… But they remind me of … oh no." Takato said as his face turned grey.

"Gunfire. That sound could be coming only from Gargomon's cannons. Henry's in trouble!" Rika said grimly as she got up from the stone she was sitting on and ran towards the place sound was coming from. Takato, Guilmon and Renamon followed her…

… As they were approaching, the sounds were getting stronger. Already it was possible to make out terrible screams of someone dying.

"C'mon, we're almost there! They should be just over this hill!" Takato said as he started to run faster, followed by the others. When they finally reached the field of battle, they have witnessed yet another terrible scene.

Gargomon was fighting against many strange creatures armed with steel weaponry. They were strange, were a bit lower than humans, and had greenish skin. But they were not unfamiliar with. Children saw them once back at Minas Morgul. Only these ones were looking weaker compared to those they have seen before. A couple of dozen of them were already dead, lying on the ground with smoking holes in them.

Gargomon's guns were covered with black blood of the creatures, as several of them lied near him with their sculls smashed. The rest of the creatures were on the run, and one after another, fell, cut down by bullets. When the others managed to get out of shock, they noticed Henry.

He was lying near a big hazel-tree, with his one hand holding the blue card, and the other holding the D-Power. Both were stained with blood, because his left arm was pierced near elbow by a black arrow. Takato rushed to his friend as soon as he saw this.

"Henry! HENRY! Are you alive? Speak to me!" he implored in screaming, and, after receiving no reply, took Henry by his other arm to feel the pulse. Although the wound obviously was not lethal, and Henry was in a pain shock, Takato panicked.

Renamon was shocked too when she saw Henry wounded and incapacitated, as well as the sight of Gargomon fighting and killing every creature around, when she suddenly heard a dim voice from behind.

"Renamon…" it was Rika's voice. Renamon turned around and witnessed her tamer again, and what she saw gave her shivers. Rika's eyes darkened beyond any imagination, there were no eyes, just two big black holes instead of them. Renamon shook her head to make the vision go away.

"Kill them. All of them." A grim order was heard from her tamer. Renamon shook off her confusion, looked at the fleeing creatures, at Henry, at her tamer again, and a malicious smile appeared on her face.

"With pleasure." She said and disappeared…

… In two minutes it was all over. Every last creature that attacked was killed. No one survived. Gargomon de-evolved into Terriermon again, and now was sitting near his tamer, who finally became conscious again, and was dropping tears. That was new because no one ever saw Terriermon crying.

"I'm sorry … Henry … You got hurt because … I was not able to react in time…" Terriermon was apologizing and sobbing, but suddenly felt his tamer's hand in his head.

"Don't worry, I don't blame you. It was not your fault, and … DAMN! It hurts!" Henry moaned from pain because of the blinding pain in his arm.

"Anyway, what happened?" Takato inquired.

"I was on top of that tree, trying to find some nuts, when suddenly, those freaks came out of nowhere… I got shot, and the rest … I think you know…" Henry explained.

Renamon returned too, with only several small stains of black blood on her white fur showing that she did fight.

"I trust you spared no one." Rika stated with boiling anger hidden in her voice. In the dim light her face looked more pale, skinny, and a bit spooky.

"They didn't have a chance." Renamon replied coldly as she cleaned the last of the stains form her fur, and resumed position behind her tamer. Both Henry and Takato watched this dialog with amazement.

"Rika… I don't recognize you…" Takato mumbled in amazement, but silenced as Rika turned her head to him and gave him a glare that was sharp like the edge o a knife. But then, it changed to a much milder one.

"Anyone who hurts my friends – dies, one way or another. Renamon, can you get that arrow out? There's no telling what those bastards were dipping their arrows in." she ended angrily.

"I will do my best." Renamon replied and a second later was already near Henry, checking his wound.

"This is bad… Very bad. The arrow has fractured the bone, and is deep inside… I can remove it, but it will be … extremely painful." She reported.

"Do it… I'll try to endure the … pain." Henry replied while breathing heavily.

"Fine, but you will need this…" Renamon said quickly and gave him a piece of cloth.

"What is it for?" Henry inquired with amazement.

"Put it in your mouth. This is for you not to crush your teeth, because this will be … very painful." Renamon explained. Henry swallowed, and put the cloth in his mouth. When "patient" was prepared, Renamon sighed heavily and started to push the arrow forward through the meat, for the edge to come from the other side.

Arrow was too deep in the wound already, and there was no other method of getting it out.

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" Henry moaned as his teeth gnashed into the cloth he had in his mouth. Tears of pain were flowing from his eyes as he tried his best not to faint again and endure the pain. Finally, the edge came out, Renamon broke the shaft, and took the remaining arrow out of the wound, leaving Henry with an accurate hole in his arm. A warm stream of blood flowed from the wound to the ground, but this was anticipated as Renamon used a relatively clean piece of cloth, which was a part of Takato's shirt before, to bandage the wound and stop blood from flowing.

"There, that should do for now. But we must find a qualified healer somewhere soon, his arm is partially fractured. If not treated in time, this will have severe repercussions." Renamon said quickly, and stood up.

"Wow, Renamon! I didn't know you knew about medicine so much!" Guilmon growled in amazement and admiration.

"I possess some rudimentary knowledge about first aid, nothing more. I am a warrior, not a healer." Renamon replied to that.

"Then we must go now! We can't lose time!" Takato said with worry, and the trio, followed by their digimon, has left…

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There, done =) Hope you liked it.


	4. Aggressive negotiations

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 4 – Aggressive negotiations.

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Another chapter ready. Thanks to everyone for the reviews! I'm glad that at least someone is satisfied with my work so far =)

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…the group continued to move along the road that leads to Minas Tirith. After that most unfortunate encounter with the orcs, they were stopping only for brief periods of time, because they were afraid to be ambushed again. Although there was a good hunch that buddies of those who were slain near the burned village would try pursuing them.

Henry's wound was becoming worse. Without proper medical treatment, the bleeding continued, and the bandages which Renamon was able to put were quickly soaking in blood, thus, making the group run out of "bandages". Henry was trying to endure the pain and not to complain about it, but it was hard.

Rika and Renamon were silent during the entire trip. They just continued their way, saying nothing, thinking about something else, and their faces were darkened. This fact got Takato a bit worried. His friends were in this state ever since the attack.

"Um… Rika, are you alright?" he asked reluctantly, knowing Rika disliked purposeless questions such as these. He was right.

"Stupid question. Yes, I'm alright, relatively." She replied dryly.

"You look concerned…" Takato started to say but was interrupted by Rika's rather hostile glare.

"Oh, really? What gave you a clue, Sherlock? The fact that Henry needs to be patched up very soon? That we don't have anything normal to eat for the time being? Or maybe the fact that we are stuck in the middle of who knows what with no way out?" she replied with irritation. This made Takato shut up, and he turned away, understanding that he should not bother his friend at this time. To Rika, however, it appeared that he was offended.

"Look, I'm sorry I acted the way I just did… It's just … a lot of things happened, that are making me rather upset. Leave me be for a while. When all this will be behind us, we'll have a talk. Just … not now. Alright?" she inquired a bit sadly.

"Of course! I'm sorry I bothered you, I should have known better. I'll leave you alone for a while…" Takato replied without any offence or sadness. Easy-going, as always…

… They went in silence for a bit longer, before it was broken again. This time it was Terriermon, who jumped off the horse to approach Renamon. Speaking of her, she was not in a good mood either. She was also worried, but more worried about children rather then herself. She was a digimon, her survival skills were keen, and she would have easily survived in this hostile world, as for the tamers… she was not able to say the same thing.

She noticed the little digimon's presence soon enough – she almost tripped over him.

"Yes, Terriermon, what do you need from me?" she asked with a bit of irritation.

"Renamon… Can I ask you a favor?" Terriermon asked a bit quietly.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" she asked in a much milder tone. She noticed Terriermon had a worried look on his face, and she knew why.

"Can you … can you do something to ease Henry's pain a little more? He's doing his best not to moan, because it hurts a lot, but I can hear teeth gnash…" Terriermon replied sadly and looked at his tamer again. Henry was sitting on the back of the steed, with his healthy hand holding the damaged one, and he was silent.

"Terriermon, believe me, I already did everything I could. And, unfortunately, it's the fractured bone that causes such pains. I don't know how to treat fractures … yet. But, once we get back to Shinjuku, I will study this matter more deeply." Renamon said mildly.

"You think we will even be able to get home?" Terriermon asked plainly.

"I hope so. It would be best for us all to leave this world. We are not a part of it, plus … I really fear for our tamers…" she replied trying to sound calmly. But she didn't succeed much this time…

…The group continued with their journey. The weather hasn't changed much since they have left the village. Unpleasant rain was making everyone soggy, and the road has turned into a big dirt river. The muddy road was slowing the steed down, although the strange animal didn't complain. Everyone had noticed that the horse was never complaining about anything, and carried on even without being fed.

The group approached a forest, and everyone was quite pleased with this fact. After all, in the forest they were able to hide from the annoying rain. Also there were no chilling winds there. The weather was rather cold, and the children had only their summer clothes with them. Because of that, they all were freezing, especially Takato, whose shirt went on for bandages.

Their sheet, which they have picked up during their night at the windmill, was not keeping them warm enough. At this time, they decided to stop, because everyone was too tired of riding a horse all day. They were not trained to endure such travels.

With Guilmon's help, three fires were started in order to keep everyone warm. As everyone went to sleep, only Renamon remained guarding their rest. After all, of all digimon, her senses were always sharper. Plus she maintained fires by tossing firewood at a time.

The night was dark. There was no moon, or any stars. However, Renamon didn't care about it now. As she watched the blazing fire, her mind was occupied with several thoughts at a time.

"Those creatures that have attacked us before… I do recall them back at that dark fortress we luckily escaped without fighting… Were those creatures under Nazgul's command? If so, then this "truce" is off, and we are being hunted. On other hand, it wouldn't make sense to send someone with a message, and then attack us… Hm… And who are those "soldiers of the white tree" the ill-tempered one mentioned? Ugh, even if I will get answers, I think they will raise even more questions… And above everything, we must find a way of getting out of this world. And I don't even have a clue where to start searching…" she was thinking, when she suddenly heard a branch snap under someone's rather careless foot.

"Everyone, get up! Quick!" she whispered harshly, and that woke up everyone else.

"Ugh, what is it Renamon?" Rika asked as she woke up and yawned.

"Someone is out there in the woods… We are being pursued." Renamon reported as everyone else stood up. She was not able to sense where from exactly the sounds were coming from, but she knew that someone was close.

"If there will be any arrows, I suggest you should duck." Renamon whispered quietly as she looked around. The others nodded in agreement.

"It's quiet now… Too quiet…" Henry said as he looked around, trying to spot anything. It was quiet for his hearing though, for digimon, however, everything was much clearer.

"We are surrounded… again." Renamon said heavily. After she said that, out of the bushes, they started to appear. At first everyone mistaken them with the Nazgul they met earlier. They too had a trait of approaching from darkness. But these were different. They were … alive.

They also bore hoods and cloaks, only theirs were of dark green color. Their faces were partially hidden by masks, and everyone was armed with a bow. And they all were humans.

"I can't believe a bunch of humans managed to sneak up on us without being detected for the most time. I'm impressed." Renamon whispered to her tamer.

"Save your impressions for later…" Rika replied, because her attention was attracted to people who were aiming at her and her friends.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Takato demanded harshly.

"You are now our prisoners. You will come with us, or else…" one of the strange forest people said as his comrades raised their bows ready to shoot. He was not explaining anything, just demanded surrender. Our heroes were outnumbered 3 to 1. If they have fought, tamers most likely would be caught in the crossfire. So the choice was obvious.

"We surrender." Renamon said after calculating all the chances, and raised her hands in the air. The others have followed her example.

"Tie them up and let's get moving! We have to bring them all to our surveillance post for interrogation." one of them, probable the commander, ordered, and three of his troops tied everyone up and guided them down the road.

"This corrupted creature is from Minas Morgul! Finish it off now, we have no use for it!" the commander ordered one of his men, referring to the red-eyed steed. But when the scout approached the horse with a knife, the horse went mad, hit the man with a hoof, killing him instantly, and ran away. Several scouts launched some arrows at it, but missed, as the steed disappeared into the darkness.

"Well, at least one of them bastards paid for it…" Terriermon said a bit viciously.

"These ropes are weak. I can tare them apart easily…" Renamon whispered to her tamer as they were taken away.

"Wait, not now. When they won't have a chance to attack us directly, then and only then will you strike." Rika whispered back…

…After an hour of marching along with a couple of dozen of scouts, the prisoners finally reached the place which scouts were calling "the surveillance post". In reality, it was a small, sturdy wooden fortress, with a tower in center of it, made out of stone. On top of the gates there was a banner – a white tree on a dark-green background.

"So these are those white tree soldiers… I expected a bit warmer welcome…" Henry whispered to others as the gates have opened and they were let inside.

"Silence! No talking!" one of the soldiers that was escorting them said harshly and poked him in his side with an end of his bow. It was not exactly pleasant.

Inside there were already some other people waiting for those scouts to arrive. Several soldiers in heavy metal armor, armed with swords. On their shields there were also those symbols the group saw on the banner. The troops were lead by a man who was in better-decorated armor, and with a winged helmet on his head. "Probably an officer…" everyone thought as they saw him and his men approach the scouts and their "prey". One of the scouts reported him everything about the operation shortly.

"Good job, men. It was about time you would deliver some of our enemies here. Our information has been running off-date." The officer said.

"By what authority have your men ambushed us?!" Takato almost screamed as he tried to break away from the grip of a soldier.

"By what authority? I will indulge you. You came across the border of Gondor accompanied by some strange creatures, Morgoth-spawn that's for sure, on a steed that is bred from Morgul, and you came from an enemy territory. Because of that, in the name of Gondor, you will be interrogated…" the officer said as he approached Takato and took him by his collar.

"And you will tell me everything you know, if not, we will force it out of you, and BELIEVE ME, I'm extremely skilled in torturing anyone to get what I need." He hissed in anger.

"Take 'em away!" the officer ordered strictly, after that, everyone received a powerful hit in the head from behind, and fell unconscious…

They all woke up an hour later. It was dark around, the air was humid and cold. There was no light, except one from a small torch that was on the wall, and which has almost burned out. It was a dungeon, created to hold prisoners. And our heroes were prisoners.

Children found themselves tied up with ropes, while digimon were chained to the wall. Renamon had handcuffs on her hands, and those handcuffs were chained to the wall with another chain, allowing some ability to move around the cell. Terriermon and Guilmon had something that looked like dog leashes on them, only made out of metal and on a small chain too. It was obvious that these restraints were put there recently, and not too well planned out, as those chains allowed some movement, and, perhaps, ability to attack anyone who would try coming in.

"Ugh… Damn! These handcuffs… Too tough for me… Cant break them…" Renamon said with disappointment as she tried to break the restraining devises. She failed again and again, until, suddenly, heard Guilmon's growling voice from the corner:

"Wait, I have an idea!" he said and approached the kitsune, for the chain allowed him to do so.

"What are you going to do?" Renamon asked in amazement.

"Watch." Guilmon said with an unusual confidence, and released a steady and thin stream of fire at the chain that held the handcuffs together. After two minutes, the chain became red.

"Try tearing them apart now!" Guilmon said cheerfully. Renamon gathered her strength again, and this time, she succeeded. The chain broke right where Guilmon was heating it up.

"Wow! Did you come up with this idea by yourself?" Renamon asked with amazement as the chains which once held her now fell to the ground.

"I do have some bright ideas form time to time…" Guilmon replied a bit shyly and turned his head away. His reaction amused everyone for a bit.

"Well, what will you do now?" Henry asked suspiciously. He remembered all too well what she did with the orcs that attacked them once, and was afraid that she planned to do it again, only here.

"I think I will pay our dear captain a visit…" Renamon said a bit malevolently as she was about to teleport out of the cell, but was stopped by a question Rika posed:

"Hey, what about us?"

"Don't worry. Once all is finished, you will be all released … by our captors." She said and disappeared. Her cryptic answer left everyone in confusion…

…In the room on top of the stone-clad tower, the officer that was in charge of the outpost was writing a letter. It was something he did every month, not a report about the situation, but a letter to his family.

"Dear wife, children…" he started to write, when he heard the window creaking. He turned his head and noticed it opened. Chilling wind entered the room, almost making the papers fly off the table.

"Brrrr." The captain said as he closed the window. He didn't want his cozy little room get cold. He got back to his seat at the table and wanted to continue his writing, when he heard another squeak. This time, the door was opened.

"Whoa? But I could have sworn I closed that… Accursed door…" he muttered some curses as he stood up again and went to close the door.

"There. Now that will make sure no damn wind will open this door." He said confidently as he closed the door on a bolt. When he went to the table again, some strange feeling caught him off-guard. He thought he felt a presence.

"Who is there?" he said loudly as he turned around and drew his sword. But there was no one there. The officer looked around and spotted no one. Then, he put the sword back in its scabbards.

"He he, it's just some silly imagination…" he said to himself as he turned around again to go for the table. It was just then when he faced Renamon, unexpectedly, face to face.

"Menacing, isn't it?" she asked with a bit of mockery as she witnessed the officer's face twitch in fear. Although this was a shock to him, however, he quickly regained a determined look on his face.

"Die, you scum!" he screamed as he pulled out his sword again, but before he could even try and hitting her with the blade, the sword was beaten out of his hand by Rena's fist. She grabbed him by his throat and raised him from the ground.

"You will do what I say, and I will allow you to live." She said with a threatening and somewhat scary voice. The reaction, however, was not what she expected, as she saw no fear in the captain's eyes.

"I choose … to die!" he growled as his hand reached a dagger on the table and he tried to stab Renamon. His effort proved futile, for his hand was stopped by Renamon's remaining hand. She tightened her grip on his hand, and he dropped the weapon.

"Are you that certain about it?" she asked as she tightened her grip on his throat as well. The captain was suffocating. His face turned red, but still Renamon saw no fear in his eyes, just anger.

"Kill me now … you monster!" he growled. Not so sure with what to threaten this stubborn human with, Renamon suddenly noticed the letter on the table. Once she read it's beginning, an evil smile appeared on her face.

"Tell me, do you have a family? I mean wife, kids…" she said with a maliciously sweet tone, not removing her eyes from observing his face. And her efforts were rewarded. For a second, his face showed fear. And a weakness was revealed.

"What … about it?" he hissed.

"A pity they will never see you again…" she said as her grip tightened even more. Renamon didn't want to kill the human, but she required obedience from him, she wanted to make sure he won't cause trouble in the future.

"I'm … not afraid… They will now … I died for them … and my country…" the stubborn captain still resisted. Renamon admired that captain a bit for having guts, but, however, she didn't exploit his weakness.

"Perhaps. But what if something bad happened to them?" she continued to say in her slyly tone. This time she did it. Now captain was expressing both anger and fear at the same time.

"You … wouldn't…" he hissed as the hand was slowly suffocating him. The blue eyes seemed to see right into his soul. He saw a cold blue fire burning in them, and in that fire he saw his house far away, burning.

"Is that … a dare?" Renamon asked, trying to sound even more menacing.

"What … do you want … from me?" the officer finally surrendered. He was not a coward, and he was not afraid for himself, but for his family. As soon as he replied, Renamon released him from her grip. The officer fell on his knees, breathing heavily.

"I want you to release my companions, provide us with provisions, clothes, transportation, and with a document that will give us the ability to pass through all check points to Minas Tirith without trouble. Also, you must give proper medical treatment to the wounded one." She stated her demands.

"I … I will do whatever you say." The captain said after he rose from the ground.

"Good…" Renamon said and was about to leave, but suddenly turned around.

"And don't even think about double-crossing me… Or you will pay most dearly for it…" she threatened him once more, and disappeared into thin air, leaving the captain shocked, once more…

…In two hours, the group has left the not so hospitable outpost. But now they had food to last for at least a week, were dressed up in more common clothes to blend in with other folks, and on a new steed. Henry's wound was treated properly, although it would take time for the bones to grow back together, a permanent bandage was put on to hold the hand, and was able to withstand a long trip.

"How were you able make them release us and give us all these things?" Rika, who was dressed more like a scout now, asked curiously.

"I have my ways…" Renamon replied mysteriously and smiled…

…Back at the outpost, the captain watched them go from atop of his tower.

"Sent a pigeon with a message to Minas Tirith. Highest priority." He said heavily.

"Highest priority? But … that means the report will get directly to Mithrandir, sir. Are you sure you want to proceed with this?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Yes. It seems we have met an enemy no common soldier can fight against…" the captain replied. In a couple of minutes the postal pigeon was released…

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Well, that's it =) Hope you liked it. Next chapter will be ready soon.


	5. The White city

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 5 – The White city.

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Another chapter ready. If I'm doing something wrong or misinterpret something, you can always inform me of that via review.

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… Gandalf was standing on the balcony, watching the dark clouds and thunders that were coming from the mountain barricades which were surrounding Mordor. His thoughts were heavy. He knew that the Enemy's forces were getting stronger by the minute, and that sooner or later these forces will deliver a devastating blow.

Ever since he came to Minas Tirith, he noticed how defenseless the great fortress actually was. It was slowly decaying for a long time, as old alliances were severed, walls crumbled without proper repair, and the soldiers were lazy, doing nothing instead of training. But the worst of all was Denethor the II, Stewart of Gondor. After the death of his elder son Boromir, his will was broken, as well as his sanity.

Denethor was not able to lead the defense of the city, being drowned in self-loathing, grief and madness. He said that against the forces of Sauron there could be no victory, and that had an impact on his soldiers' will to fight for Gondor. That was why Gandalf, being the white wizard with a high reputation among the ranks, took the role of coordinating and preparing the defenses.

He slowly turned away from the balcony and made his way to the table. On it there was a parchment – a report recently received from one of the outposts, and quite an unusual one…

He read the report again and again, analyzing and memorizing all the details, but was disturbed by a knock at the door. Soon after that a guard of the citadel entered and inquired:

"Mithrandir, the commander of the Minas Tirith internal security forces is waiting for your audience. Should we let him in?"

"Yes, let him in." Gandalf replied as he turned around to face the soldier.

"Right away." The soldier replied and disappeared behind the door. Soon the door opened again, and a person walked in. He looked much like a guard of a citadel, only without helmet and a mask. His heavy steps echoed in the surroundings.

"I am here as you summoned, Mithrandir, sir." The commander said with a chillingly monotonous voice. Gandalf never liked those guys from the internal security force. They were guards of the citadel who showed highest results on training in stealth and fighting. Like every soldier of Gondor, they were faithful and willing to serve their country, but these were considered fanatics even by their own, and they always were ruthless and frighteningly efficient in executing their orders. They were also the only ones to call his "sir".

"Yes, I called for you, commander. I want you to read this latest report carefully and tell me what you think about it." Gandalf asked him mildly, although it had no effect on the officer.

"I will do as you order." The commander replied monotonously and approached the table. His eyes were concentrated on the document for about five minutes, after that he took a step back and said calmly:

"It seems that some new sort of spies and assassins will most likely try breaching our security perimeter and try sabotaging our fortifications, gathering information or, perhaps, assassinating someone of our high command."

Gandalf listened to these statements attentively, and, after the officer finished, said:

"Yes, that was my first impression also, but there are some moments that just don't add up. For example, if they really are spies or assassins sent by the Enemy, why have they spared the commander of that outpost? It would be more reasonable to kill him as well as the rest of the garrison, judging by the description of abilities of the creature that attacked the captain over there, they could do that easily. Another thing puzzles me… Why do they have children in their squad?" Gandalf posed two questions to the officer.

"Their motives are unknown to me. Still, we should enhance our security perimeter to prevent them from entering the city, and, perhaps, capturing them." The commander proposed coldly.

"How are you planning to do that? There are a lot of refugees coming from that part of Gondor. It would be impossible to spot anyone in that crowd." Gandalf inquired and noticed a self-confident smirk on commander's face.

"The main wave of refugees already passed. There are not as many of them coming now. According to the report, besides the strange magical creatures there are three children out there. According to the officer who was in command of the outpost, the creatures care great deal about the little ones. By exploiting this weakness, I can only assume that the creatures will not enter the city alone and leave them behind." The commander said coldly while slowly moving back and forth, with his arms crossed behind.

"Thus, even if they will use their witchcraft to sneak by my men, the children will not be able to do so. There are two boys and one girl in the group, a noticeable configuration. Even if they will try entering one by one, there is still a flaw – one of the boys has a wound made by arrow in his arm, a bit higher then elbow. They will not succeed in sneaking into the city." Officer ended confidently. Gandalf listened to his plan carefully, and said thoughtfully:

"Their motives of coming to Minas Tirith are unknown to me. Perhaps they are not a thread, but if they are…"

"Should I prepare a squad to eliminate them when they arrive?" the commander inquired.

"No. I want your men to let them enter the city, but keep them under discrete watch. Once you will find out what are their goals here – report to me at once." Gandalf gave the order.

"I will attend to this matter immediately, sir." The commander replied monotonously and turned around to leave.

"Commander!" suddenly Gandalf called him.

"Yes, sir." the officer replied as he turned around again.

"If I would have given the order to eliminate them all, would you have executed it?" the white wizard asked a surprising question.

"Of course, sir." the commander replied unwaveringly.

"Even children?" Gandalf asked again.

"Even children." the commander replied with cold and calm intonation, as if they were talking about killing a chicken.

"You may go now." Gandalf replied and the officer left. "Unquestionable loyalty… Gruesome, but, unfortunately, we need it if the West is to stand against the forces Sauron amassed…" he thought as he got back to more present matters…

…After a long journey, filled with various obstacles and difficulties, the group finally made it to Minas Tirith. The provisions, documents, clothes, provided by Renamon's quite "shrewd" negotiations, made their trip a bit easier, but still it was quite hard, because no one was prepared to endure such a debilitating trip. But what they didn't now was that their arrival was expected.

"Whoa!!!" was everyone's first reaction when they first saw the white city. And indeed, it was quite impressive. Giant white walls, which were so tall, they almost touched the skies, the beautiful gates which had artistic carvings on the metal, and a giant white tower in the center of the city. No one ever saw something like this before, the height of the structure was a challenge even to modern skyscrapers.

"That … is … amazing…" Henry mumbled as he was not able to withdraw attention from the city.

"No joke…" Rika replied as she was astounded by the sight she saw.

"Well, what are we waiting for then? Let's go out there!" Takato said cheerfully as always.

"Hold your horses, Gogglehead. Sure, we can get in, but what about our digimon? You see those guards over there? I bet they will charge at us if we'll even dare to approach with them here." Rika replied to that a bit pessimistically.

"Don't worry! I'm sure Renamon's unrivaled skills in stealth will help her get through without notice." Takato replied.

"It's your digimon I'm worried about. If Henry's Terriermon can be brought inside hidden in a bag, where would we hide your clumsy dinosaur?!" she exclaimed.

"Hey! Don't call Guilmon clumsy! And besides, I got it all sorted. He he." Takato smirked as he drew a card from his deck and showed it to the rest.

"What is that?" everyone asked.

"This card allows a digimon to be invisible for an infinite amount of time if it doesn't attack or is being attacked. Guilmon will be able to come with us unseen." Takato explained with a smart look on his face, which was quite unusual.

"Hm, maybe you do have some brains after all, Gogglehead. Alright, Renamon, I'll see you inside." Rika replied to her digimon.

"Of course." Renamon nodded and vanished. When all preparations were made, the group, now made of three kids and a horse, approached the gates. In front there were four guardsmen, the children saw someone like them before. When they attempted to go through the gates, the children were stopped by one of them.

"Halt! What is your reason for coming to the Great city of Minas Tirith?" the guardsman asked and looked at the suspiciously.

"We're just poor fugitives, our village was burned down and we have nowhere else to go. We came here to find shelter. Please, kind sir, would you let us in?" Rika asked with a very sad intonation and made such a look on her face, which appeared like she was almost crying. That face almost made the boys crack up laughing. The guardsman looked at her in confusion, and shrugged:

"Err, of course, we are always happy to shelter and assist those in need. You are clear to pass." After that the children entered the city. When they did this, one of the guards quietly asked another:

"Do you think…"

"Yes, everything matches up… Deploy the scouts." The other one whispered and pulled a string, which was a signal…

…When the children were far enough from the gates, Henry and Takato suddenly started laughing out loud. They suffocated this laugh quickly, however, not to attract any unneeded attention.

"Rika, next time you'll do such a grimace – warn us. We nearly cracked up out there." Takato said while giggling.

"Maybe next time you'll try not to blow our cover. Did you see how the other guards were staring at us?" Rika hissed angrily.

"Alright let's try not to kill each other? I suggest finding a place to stay in for the night first. And I think the best place to look at would be that tavern." Henry tried to pacify those two and was rather successful in it. Without much quarreling the trio went to the first tavern they saw…

… The place they went in proved to be a complete dump. Walls, which once were white, were yellow because of the smoke, and because some patrons had a habit of whipping their dirty hands on them. The place was full of half – drunken thugs, which were always swearing, drinking and telling vulgar jokes about anyone who was coming in. When our trio went in, one of the drunkards said something about a "new whore" which came to the tavern. That remark almost made Rika explode.

"Why you… I will tear your tongue out of your smoldering hole of a mouth! " she hissed terribly as she made a few steps towards the idiot who dared saying such things about her. Rika's angry look was enough to make the drunken thug hide under the table. When this happened, all talks in the tavern were silenced.

"Rika, calm down, we have some business to attend to." Henry whispered to her and managed to calm her down again. They approached the bar-table, and the employee greeted them:

"Welcome to our humble tavern, this has to be the most dirty rotten hole in Minas Tirith! How can I help you?" he said rather politely.

"Well at least there is someone here who can show some respect, and not only this low-life scum…" Rika said angrily.

"Yes, you are correct. Unfortunately, in Minas Tirith there are no jobs for fugitives, so I'm lucky I got one. So, can I help you?" The employee inquired.

"Yes, we need a room to stay for the night. Do you happen to have such?" Henry inquired.

"Of course we do. But … those rooms are rather … well, you'll have to see for yourself. That's why the payment for living there is mockingly small." The employee replied reluctantly.

"Well, we don't have enough money for luxuries, so I guess we'll have to stay here…" Takato said after counting all the coins they had. The employee looked at them with pity and said:

"Very well, here's your key. Your room's number is 5 on the second floor."

"Thank you. Let's go guys." Rika said after grabbing the key from the employee's hands. The rest followed her up the squeaky ladder to the upper floor…

…The room was just as described: a complete …ithole. No windows, three bunks o sleep at, with some things which looked like pillows, but were hard as rocks. A pile of garbage in the corner, cockroaches and broken shards of glass were everywhere. And the stench … it was just unbearable.

"Ahh, the stench and decay of desperate living. The city looked much better on the outside." Rika commented as she let Terriermon out of the bag.

"I know it doesn't look like much, but it's still better than nothing. Guilmon, you can show up now!" Takato called and the next moment Guilmon was already beside him.

"This place is a dump indeed." Renamon said as she appeared out of nowhere. She managed to pass the guards easily, and teleported to the room in a blink of an eye. She looked around, and on her face was written disgust.

"Fortunately for us, we will stay here only during the night. Now we'll leave our digimon here, so that no one would see them, and will scout the city for that Mithrandir guy, remember? We have a letter to deliver to him." Henry said confidently. Everyone approved that course of action.

"Alright, but my Renamon will follow us discretely, just in case of trouble." Rika proposed. The next moment the trio, followed by Renamon, who moved in the shadows, hidden for eyes of the commoners, went in their search for Mithrandir...

… The poor quarter of the city finished off all good impressions about the city. It was a place filled with refugees, homeless, sick people, or just with thugs. The buildings were ugly compared to the ones of upper city, and a lot of people, stench and constant swearing from all parts were just annoying.

"This city is huge! How the hell are we going to find some guy named Mithrandir here?" Takato inquired tiredly.

"Considering that our tall dark and scary "friends" are not some run – of – the – mill ghosts, but are actually important and powerful, I must assume that this guy we're looking for is not a commoner also." Rika replied to him.

"Hey, maybe this guy could help us!" Henry asked as he pointed at a person who was wearing rather good clothing and stood near the booth with word "Guide" on it. Near him also were two soldiers, just in case of trouble. The children have approached the person, and Rika asked:

"Excuse me, sir, are you a guide by any chance?"

"Yes, child, I am a guide. I provide information to any newcomers that visit our humble city. I see you are a newcomer yourself. How may I help you?" the guide asked.

"We are looking for a person named Mithrandir. Do you know where we can fund him?" Takato inquired. When he asked this, the guide chuckled.

Everyone knows Mithrandir, the white wizard. He is a powerful sorcerer, and an advisor to our ruler – Denethor the Second. But, unfortunately, since his sons death, our humble ruler stopped concerning about the city, and now Mithrandir is in charge of everything. Why do you seek him?" the guide inquired.

"We need to see him urgently, it's a matter of extreme importance. Do you know if we could arrange a meeting?" Rika asked again and made the guide chuckle again.

"You are a funny little girl. Mithrandir is too important to meet commoners like you and I. I'm afraid there is no way to arrange such a meeting." He said between laughs. The answer was frowned upon by everyone.

"That's … too bad. Let's go, guys." Rika said disappointedly as she went away from the information booth. Her friends followed her. But what they didn't know was that the guards, who were standing near, heard everything.

"Is it…?" one of them asked quietly.

"Yes… Now we know… Send a message immediately." the other one replied. They both knew…

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Well, that's it. Another one would be ready as soon as possible.


	6. Night visit

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 6 – Night visit.

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Another chapter ready =) I hope you'll like it. And, of course, any reviews are appreciated =)

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…The group was assembled back in their "room". No one was speaking anything, because there was no subject to talk about. Guilmon was staring at the point in the wall, Terriermon was busy killing cockroaches, and the children were on their bunks, resting, or thinking. The news they have heard cut away almost all their hopes of delivering the letter, so now they faced a question they tried so hard to avoid: "What to do next?"

No one had an answer to this question. Every one of them wanted find a way back home, but none of them knew how. Renamon went out to scout the area, but Rika suspected that was just an excuse to get away and not get involved in this atmosphere of desperation and hopelessness. Takato was lying on his bunk, tossing the message they were supposed to deliver in the air and catching it again, like a toy. Henry was not able to lie on his bunk for long, so he stood up and started moving across the room, back and forth, with his hands crossed behind him.

"So, what do we do now? We're running low on money, food, and we can't stay forever in this hub." He said slowly as he roamed across the room again.

"I don't know… I can make Renamon steal some money, she'll be able to do it, so we will last here a bit longer…" Rika replied lazily. Her thoughts moved slowly in her head, as it was dizzy from stuffy air in the room.

"What do we do with this thing?" Takato asked as he tossed the sealed parchment in the air again.

"Throw it away, it's not like it is of any use if it's not delivered. We can't say we haven't tried though…" Rika replied lazily once again from her bunk.

"I wouldn't be so hasty about it. I feel that whatever information is contained in there, it's extremely important. We cannot dispose of it just like that. We must try harder…" Henry said heavily as he turned around. An ironical smirk appeared at Rika's face.

"You cling to that because of endlessness… I think I'll be the first to say it: we must cope with the fact that we might … actually be forced to … live here…" she said dimly. Silence went for a minute, until Takato asked:

"You mean … forever?" Another minute was spent in silence, as even Terriermon stopped killing cockroaches. But before anyone said anything again, without any sound, Renamon reappeared in the room once more. In her ordinary fashion, out of nowhere.

"Renamon how was your scouting? Found anything interesting?" Rika asked carelessly from her bunk.

"Yes, but my scouting was not so fortunate. I only checked out first level and a small part of a second level…" Renamon replied reluctantly. Her appearance quite invigorated everyone, because it has taken them from the unpleasant discussion they had earlier.

"Why did you want to scout way out there?" Takato asked from his corner bunk.

"I wanted to find this Mithrandir guy, his specific location, and, if successful, to return here, take the message, deliver it to him personally. Sometimes if you cannot appoint a meeting, you must go uninvited, unfortunately, my operation failed…" Renamon replied calmly.

"Why so? Have you encountered some problems?" Rika asked caringly. Renamon nodded.

"The first level of the city was checked out quick, all troops guarding the area were common rank-and-file troops. I could walk around them all day and they won't even notice my presence. But one the second level it was … much more difficult, because of those strange soldiers." She said. Everyone analyzed what she said for a brief moment of time, when Takato suddenly asked:

"What do you mean by "strange soldiers"?"

"On the second level there are practically no civilians, only troops. They are … strange. Do you remember that captain that captured us at the outpost?" Renamon asked. Everyone nodded.

"They have the same uniform as he had. Winged helmets, faces cloaked by a mask, better armor. Also, these are quite more vigilant. When I approached one closer then 10 meters, he started to look around, searching for something, as if he felt my presence. And I swear I almost got spotted a couple of times. It is much harder to sneak by someone who is always vigilant. I didn't even try to sneak on the third level, the risk of being spotted was just too high." She sighed in the end.

"Renamon, from now on you will not go scouting that area. Not only you risk blowing our cover, but you also put yourself in danger." Rika said with much worry. Boys were not surprised by such a reaction. Although Rika could be cold and dismissive some times, but she learned to care and value her digimon.

"Don't worry, Rika, I can handle myself." Renamon tried to calm her tamer down.

"You don't understand, do you? Rika told me already how you dealt with that outpost commander. I was quite amazed that he actually had the guts to fight you even when you grabbed him by the throat. Sure, you defeated one easily. But how will you do against a dozen? A hundred? You'll have the whole garrison on your tail, and who knows what wreckage you will leave behind. Then, this city will turn into one giant cage with no way out, for you, or for us…" Henry suddenly scolded her, while not turning around to face it. Everyone looked at him in amazement, since he rarely said something like that, but no one had anything to say against it. He was right.

"I will heed your warning." Renamon replied unusually calm. Everyone knew that if there was anything Renamon hated – it was to be lectured by anyone. But that amazement slowly passed, as the room drowned in silence again…

…At the third level of the city, where was Gandalf's residence, once again, everything was and quiet. Yet there was tension in the air, and this quiet was like quiet before the storm. Dark clouds were covering the sky, promising to rain any minute. That was not a good sign. Gandalf was not alone in his tower, however, he was accompanied almost all of the time by a certain hobbit – Peregrin Took, better known as Pippin. He bore a uniform of a guard of the citadel, but in reality he was not as skilled to truly earn this status.

He accompanied Gandalf quite often, and, while not being exactly useful in most of the situations, still provided sometimes a comical relief and was making Gandalf laugh. As for now, Gandalf was smoking a pipe Pippin made for him, to relief stress, and there was a lot of it, all the time. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and a guardsman came in.

"Mithrandir, commander of Minas Tirith internal security forces requests your audience immediately. He says it's urgent." The soldier said. This report made Gandalf stand up from his chair.

"Let him in." he said confidently, and the guard disappeared behind the door again.

"I wonder what that creepy spy commander wants now…" Pippin inquired while smoking his own pipe.

"Hush, Peregrin Took! This is not a good time for jokes. The commander would not disturb me unless it's really important." Gandalf chided him a little when commander opened the door and walked in. On his face was shown some degree of concern. In his hand was a parchment, a report, most likely.

"We know what the target's goals in this city are, sir." He said confidently as he approached Gandalf.

"Really? And what is so startling in those goals that make you so concerned?" Gandalf inquired curiously, while smoking.

"It seems that they are soughting out … you, sir. It seems they want to arrange a meeting with you. Also several of my men on the level two had a glimpse of what looked like one of the creatures. Probably it was looking for something or someone…" Officer said after a small pause. Gandalf raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"Me? Hm… Why would they want a meeting with me… Perhaps I will find out once I will see them…" Gandalf said thoughtfully as the commander moved slowly in front of his face.

"Mithrandir, sir, pardon me for saying this, but this is too convenient to be anything but a trap! Perhaps they want us to believe us they are some sort of misguided strangers to make us lead them directly to you! Then, we won't be able to defend you properly!" the commander exclaimed. Gandalf raised his eyebrow again. He rarely saw the commander so emotional.

"They could only know this if they would know your security protocols… Are you implying there could be a spy among your ranks, commander?" Gandalf inquired with a bit sly intonation. This caught the commander off-guard.

"I… I will perform a full investigation to intercept any traitors immediately." He quickly regained his composure. Gandalf smiled a bit when he heard that.

"There's no need for that. You will probably find nothing anyway. You do realize your theory is too elaborate to be plausible? Now, I want you to deliver those children and those creatures here. I would like to talk to them, perhaps they would prove useful. And do not fear for my safety, I fought a Balrog before, I can defend myself." Gandalf said mildly as he approached the commander and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, sir. I will attend to this matter myself. They will not escape." The commander replied with a monotonous intonation. This Gandalf's friendly jest touched him not one bit.

"Very well, be off then. I have every trust you will get the job done. Bring them all here, unharmed, if possible." Gandalf stated his requests.

"I will do as you command." Officer replied and left. When his heavy steps were too far away to be heard, Pippin said:

"It seemed to me you were not talking to a man, but to a machine. Are you sure he won't just destroy these people you want to meet with?"

"He won't. He has his orders. There is no more executive officer than the commander of internal security forces." Gandalf replied as he kept smoking his pipe and watching the town from atop of his balcony.

"What's wrong with that guy anyway?" Pippin inquired as he approached Gandalf.

"He has known great personal tragedy in the past… And from such tragedies … weapons and tools are forged. It may sound cruel, but we will use these weapons to save those who can yet be saved…" Gandalf replied thoughtfully as he released smoke with his breath…

…It was late evening in the tavern. Everything was relatively quiet, the usual patrons of this establishment were already drunk by now, and were lying on the benches or tables, talking to each others in their incomprehensible language. The barman was washing several dishes.

This relative tranquility was broken, once the door was forcefully opened. Everyone turned their heads to the door, and saw several "winged-helmet" soldiers enter, followed by a dozen of regular infantry.

"Guards of the citadel… They only show up when it's crucially important…" a whisper went throughout the hall as the soldiers went upstairs…

…And the room our heroes were staying no one was asleep yet. It was hard to get some sleep on that hard – as – a – stone bed, with roaches and other bugs crawling all over you. They were having supper, or at least what should be supper, that grub they bought was too hard to chew or swallow. Suddenly they heard some noise downstairs.

"Hey, what's going on there?" Takato inquired. Everyone stopped eating and tried to hear anything.

"Someone is coming here… Heavy steps… Metal clanking… Soldiers." Renamon confirmed the worst.

"Maybe they are not going for us?" Takato tried to remain optimistic, but suddenly there was a strong knock at the door, and a powerful voice was heard:

"Open up! In the name of Gondor! Open up or we'll bust the door down!"

"Did this answer question, Gogglehead?" Rika asked his friend with irony.

"We have to get out of here! I'm not going to be a prisoner again." Henry said with determination, and looked around. As it was said, the room had no windows, and this fact was the source of great frustration to everyone right about now. Henry and Takato moved their bunks to block the door, as it was shaking because of the soldiers who were determined to break in.

"Renamon, we need to escape. We need a hole in that wall." Rika ordered her digimon, who just nodded and launched several powerful punches and practically busted the whole wall down.

"C'mon people! We must hurry!" Takato said as he jumped to the ground, followed by everyone else. Although it was pretty high, they landed without fracturing anything and started running.

Meanwhile on the other side of the door everyone felt Renamon's little demolition maneuvers.

"Luckily such a move was predictable, and we surrounded the whole area… Follow me, men!" the commander ordered as he ran to the exit, followed by his faithful soldiers…

…The group was running out of places to run. Around every corner there were soldiers. And not just regular rank-and-file troops, but guards of the citadel as well were sent to reinforce the ranks. Once they were running through a narrow alley, their path was blocked by a detachment of regular troops.

"Terriermon, make a way for us!" Henry ordered as he released his digimon from his hands.

"No problem, Henry! Terrier Tornado!!!" his digimon screamed as he released a powerful green tornado, which caught the soldiers and tossed them away, making a path for the others to flee.

"Nice job." Henry nodded as he picked up Terriermon and the other continued to run, because the chase was not far behind. They ran through a maze of narrow valleys, turning around every corner, in their attempt to shake off the chasers. And, for a moment, it seemed to them that they have succeeded. The sounds of chase were fading.

"Looks like we managed to avoid them for now…" Takato said while they went out of another alley and suddenly stopped. Right in front of them were two citadel guards, armed with shields which were about human-size, and swords. They were accompanying the commander, who was armed only with a sword.

"Wait, we…" the commander managed to say before Renamon charged at them, intending to end this quick. Two soldiers moved forward to intercept, only to fall under Renamon's powerful and incredibly fast blows. She broke the shields and sent both troops flying against the nearby wall.

As Renamon was in the commander's close fighting range, he didn't hesitate to try and stabbing her, but his efforts proved in vane. Renamon saw the attack coming, ducked, and hit the sword with much power. Towards her amazement, the sword neither broke nor was beaten out of the commander's hand, as he gathered all of his strength and hit Rena in the face with his remaining hand.

This blow was pretty strong for a human, but Renamon was taught to receive much stronger hits. This infuriated her much, however, as she, before her opponent could react, smashed his face with her leg, and sent him flying several meters away.

"There, done. Let's go!" Renamon said after taking a breath, and the rest of the group followed. While passing by the body of the commander, Rika stopped for a second to look at him. A mistake she regretted very soon. "No one could survive after such a severe blow…" a thought passed in her mind as she turned around to follow the others, when she suddenly felt someone's grip on her leg.

She turned her head to see what grabbed her and, to her horror, she saw it was the officer Renamon took down last. His face was heavily battered, as blood was coming from his right eye, and a half of the cheek was practically ripped away, as parts of skin and meat were still hanging, not fully detached. The sight made Rika speechless for a second.

"AAAAAAAAAA!!!" she screamed as she lost balance and was dragged back. That scream made the rest of the group stop.

"Rika!!!"Both Henry and Takato screamed as they turned around. Renamon reacted without any thought or hesitation, and took down two more soldiers that just came to aid their commander. But when Rena was only in a meter from her tamer and the officer who grabbed her, she stopped. Near Rika's throat there was a blade.

"Take … five steps … back" the officer hissed as the remains of his cheek were making it harder to talk normally. Rika was too shocked to say anything. She just felt the chill of the blade at her throat, and the heavy breathing of the one who held her.

"Release Rika you fiend or…" Henry tried to threaten him.

"Or … what?" he asked with mockery in his voice and spitted with blood.

"Or I will make you regret the day you were born…" suddenly Renamon's dim and frightening voice was heard. Her eyes were glowing in the dark with a bright ice-blue light, and she had a murderous look on her face.

"I will … make you … regret it … faster." The commander hissed as his blade came closer to Rika's throat and cut the skin slightly. Small stream of warm blood cropped the blade. Rika's eyes expressed pure horror, as she was really afraid for her life. She felt it – the officer was ready to cut her throat of if required. Renamon's face quickly changed from intimidating to expressing horror. She looked like she was mortally wounded.

"Renamon … do what he says … please." Rika mumbled as her voice refused to obey her. Renamon took three steps back. More guards of the citadel arrived, and formed a thick wall around the children and their digimon, and pointed spears at them. Everyone raised their hands in the air, declaring surrender.

A smile appeared at the officer's healthy side of the face as he saw this.

"Good… Like I said … I came here to talk … not to fight… As a token of my … good intentions … I now give your friend back…" he half - hissed half – said, and released Rika from his grip. In a second Rika was already with her digimon, breathing heavily and not saying anything, still being partially paralyzed by fear.

"You hound us all over the city, scare to death our friend, and now you tell us you want to talk?" Henry said with anger.

"Attendant, you … do the talking…" the commander hissed and left with two of the soldiers to escort him. His place was quickly taken by the attendant.

"We know that you wanted to meet Mithrandir. Fortunately for you, he wants to have a word with you too. That's why you WILL follow us to the third level of the city. You will not be harmed, or kept imprisoned. But we do not take "No" as and answer." Attendant's voice sounded harsh.

"You could … just send an invitation…" Rika whispered as her voice was slowly returning to her.

"Don't take us for fools, you most likely would have though it to be a trap and would have tried escaping the city, and then we would be forced to go after you unprepared. Follow us." the attendant ordered, and, in silence, the group went for a rather long trip all the way to the third level, surrounded by guards of the citadel.

"Don't worry Rika, I will never let anyone threaten your life like that again. I'm sorry." Renamon said to her tamer with concern as she helped her stand and walk, since Rika still felt a little numbness.

"How the hell did that villain survive after that smack in the head you gave him?" she inquired on their way up.

"I have no idea… I could have sworn I heard his neck crack…" Renamon whispered in return…

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There, done. I hope you liked it. Next chapter will be ready soon.


	7. Letter

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 7 – Letter.

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Thus, I continue this thing. I know the Nazgul haven't appeared for quite a while, but don't worry, they will soon enough =)

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…Our heroes, surrounded by many citadel guards, were led to the third level of the city – the level to where common people were not allowed. But because it was deep night, there was not much view of it, all was surrounded by darkness, except the road they were going, lighted by torches.

They were not brought here like prisoners though. Everyone was not wearing any restraints, and distance between them and the guards allowed some freedom of movement. But these measures were not entirely convincing that the soldiers mean no harm now, so children were keeping close to their digimon.

Once they have approached a heavy reinforced metal door, the escort stopped. Soldiers from behind and forward went further and formed some sort of a corridor right to the door. Digimon and children gave a couple of questioning glares to each other.

"I think they want us to go in there…" Rika whispered to all of her friends as one of the guards opened the door and stepped aside.

"It's not like we have much of a choice. Perhaps we will be able to convince that Mithrandir to let us go without much trouble… We're in deep enough trouble already… Let's go." Takato replied with a bit of trembling in his voice and lead the way. The others followed him. Everyone noticed cold blankness in the eyes of the guards who were stalking them, it made them shiver.

As they all went inside, the heavy door closed behind them with a metallic screech. They have found themselves in a corridor, a rather small one too. It led to another door, this time made of wood. Near it there were two more guards. Although they also looked like guards of the citadel, their faces were much more lively and friendly.

"Ahh, the visitors have arrived. Come on in, our leader was expecting you for quite a while. Here you go, and please, don't cause trouble…" one of the guards said friendly as he opened the door and let them in. The group entered through the second door without saying anything.

They have found themselves in a round room. It had little furniture – a bed, a table to write on, a chair, and a rather large bookshelf. There was also a balcony. The room was not exactly lighted – only few torches were burning with dim lights.

Renamon narrowed her eyes as she spotted another being in this place. On the balcony there was standing a person. A rather tall one too, he was a lot taller even than Renamon – the tallest one of the group. His clothes were white, as well as his hair. Although the person was not facing the group right at the moment, it was obvious he was pretty old. In his hand there was a white staff. All added up –this was Mithrandir, the white wizard.

"At last, you are here. Unfortunately, your arrival here was not in the manner I would have preferred, but at least you are here in one piece." The white wizard said rather enthusiastically as he turned around and smiled a bit. This friendly welcome did not make anyone of the group less suspicious.

"Yeah, right, I bet you would have preferred to see us in chains…" Rika replied bitterly. She still was much shaken from their "capture". Gandalf, however, only shook his head in disagreement.

"No, I would have preferred it to be peaceful and without unnecessary bloodshed." He replied.

"Oh, is that so? Then why have you seek your blood-thirsty hounds at us? Or better yet, if you knew our whereabouts, why haven't you come yourself? You are lying old…" Rika almost screamed at the wizard.

"Rika, calm down…" Takato held her hand, and tried to sound as calm as it was possible. It helped. Even though Rika had a temper that ranged from being ice-cold to a fiery and aggressive one, she managed to cool off quickly.

"I apologize for any harm my men brought upon you and your friends. But you have to understand us as well. We encounter three powerful creatures, who are, by some yet unknown reason, accompanied by children. They, I mean you, come from our border with the Enemy, and infiltrate the city, before that you also managed to wreak havoc on one of our outposts. And after all that you sought to meet me. What were we supposed to think? Commander of the forces responsible for your latest … troubles proposed to eliminate you all on sight, and it took me great deal of persuasion to convince him otherwise…" Gandalf explained in a rather long speech.

"So that explains the peacefulness we were met with…" Rika grumped. Takato looked at the wizard for a couple of moments, rewinding in his head one more time what he heard, and came to a conclusion:

"So you're Mithrandir we were seeking all this time?!" this phrase caught everyone off-guard with it's ridiculousness.

"Don't tell me you came to that just now?" Henry asked him while truing to hold back the laugh.

"Um… Kinda. He he." Takato replied and giggled.

"Well, duh, Gogglehead, we were told to find the white wizard, and it can't get any whiter than this." Rika replied to him, referring to Gandalf's clothes, after slapping her forehead.

"Err, and who are you guys, hobbits?" suddenly they all heard a new voice. When everyone turned their head to the source of it, they spotted Pippin. He was hiding all this time behind the curtain.

"Watch whom you're calling a hobbit, shrimp-boy." Rika replied harshly, offended with being called a "hobbit".

"Hey, no offence, I just made a mistake, nothing to get sore for. Anyway, you didn't reply to the question." Pippin said rather cheerfully, as he approached Gandalf and stood beside him.

"I'm Takato, this guy next to me is Henry, the grumpy girl is Rika…" Takato started to introduce everyone, but suddenly received a hit from behind from Rika. Not a strong one, but still unpleasant.

"Hey! What did you do that for?" he asked while rubbing his head.

"For me being grumpy." Rika explained. Pippin laughed a bit.

"Anyway, this is Guilmon, Terriermon and Renamon." Takato introduced the digimon. Pippin looked at them with amazement for a couple of seconds, but soon replied:

"Alright, well, I'm Peregrin. Peregrin Took, but friends call me Pippin."

"Ehem, I am sorry for interrupting your chatter, Peregrin Took, but we have serious matters to discuss." Gandalf chided him a little.

"Oh, sorry Gandalf, carry on, I wont bother." Pippin replied and shut his mouth.

"Gandalf? I thought your name is Mithrandir." Renamon said and looked at the old man suspiciously.

"I have many different names, you can use any while addressing to me. But we really have many things to discuss. There are many questions I want to ask you. Why have you sought me out?" Gandalf asked straightly. Children gave questioning glares to each other, and then Henry took a step forward and said:

"We sought you out because we were tasked to deliver a message to you." An uncomfortable silence lasted for a minute.

"Hm, a message? And from whom, may I ask?" Gandalf asked with amazement. He expected my variants of answers, but not this one. Children exchanged glares again, deciding if they should tell or not, and Renamon clenched fists, getting prepared for a fight just in case.

"It's from … from the Nazgul, from Minas Morgul, sir…" Henry said quietly. Another minute was spent without words. Gandalf looked at them with a rather amazed glare, but slowly it was getting colder.

"So you are spies!!!" Pippin exclaimed as he drew his sword. Renamon made a step in his direction just to make sure he will not try to attack. Her chilling glare however, was enough to make the hobbit's determination to fight disappear.

"Shut it, shorty, we're not talking to you." Rika hissed and made the hobbit silence.

"It is impossible." Suddenly Gandalf said slowly.

"Impossible? Why?" Takato asked loudly.

"Minas Morgul is protected by very powerful magic. Many souls of slain citizens of that once beautiful city inhabit its empty halls, powering up the terror aura around it. Even the bravest of my men went insane because of its powerful magic. And you expect me to believe you, a bunch of children, managed to get in, and out, alive?" Gandalf asked ironically.

"Listen, you, we got into that damned city by accident, through a stupid portal. We don't know why we didn't die from that aura thingy and stuff, but we were asked to deliver this good for nothing message to you. And we came all the way from there to deliver it to you, so just take the damn thing already!" Rika said harshly, being really angry at the moment.

"Perhaps the Nazgul wanted us to pass, that's why they lowered their protective aura by themselves." Suddenly Renamon's voice was heard. Her idea sounded reasonable.

"Hmm… Perhaps you are right. But what I can't figure out, is why they have spared your lives… The Nazgul are the most horrible and faithful servants of the Dark Enemy. They bring death and destruction anywhere they go, sparing no one…" Gandalf said thoughtfully.

"They didn't sound so evil to me when we met them. They were just … kind of sad, and they were not so willing to serve their master…" Takato replied.

"Mithrandir, sir, we are telling you the truth. It's … very hard to explain, but we actually came from another world. Some strange artifact sent us here, and we ended up inside the place which is called Minas Morgul. There we met nine abominations, who called themselves the Nazgul. Fro some unknown reason, they let us go, with only one request – to deliver this parchment to you. We don't know what is inside, but it has to be very important." Henry added. Gandalf looked at the boy with curiosity, still considering whether he should believe him or not.

"Let me see this parchment, and I will decide if it's real or fake." He said with authority in his voice. After hearing that, Takato took the parchment from his pocket and gave it to Gandalf.

"Hmm, it really is magically sealed. Bu I know how to open it…" he muttered as he disposed of the seal with an enchantment and opened the message. When he did it, suddenly, a thunder came out of nowhere. All lights from the torches disappeared and the only thing visible in the darkness that suddenly filled the room was a giant ray of ghastly-blue light coming from somewhere far away from the city. Everyone went to the balcony to see it. The light was coming from Minas Morgul's tower of dark sorcery. Soon Takato came too with a torch.

Gandalf unfolded the message and looked into it. Everyone was peaking from behind his back, but was unable to understand anything. The message was written in some strange language.

"What the hell is this? I can't understand a thing!" Pippin exclaimed.

"This is ancient Numenorian language…There are only few who can still understand it, let alone talk or write in it… Fortunately, I can." Gandalf said thoughtfully as he read the message.

"Well, what does it say?" Rika asked impatiently.

Gandalf turned around and everyone made several steps away from him. He raised the parchment and started to read loudly:

"Mithrandir, in a week after you will receive this letter, Minas Tirith will be under siege. Osgiliath will fall in three days and there is nothing you can do to prevent it. It would be wise to evacuate the troops from there. Also, evacuate all civilians from the white city, otherwise they'll be the first to be slaughtered. Keep the creatures and the children near you. I sense strange power from the creatures, which is somehow linked to the children. That power may be enough to cast aside disaster, if so, their potential is not yet spent. If Minas Tirith will fall, the world of Men will fall with it, but you know this, no doubt. Use the remaining time to muster your defenses.

Er-Murazor, the Witch-King of Angmar."

Gandalf finished reading. The message shocked pretty much everyone, including Gandalf. He was not sure what to think about it. He knew that the attack on Minas Tirith would be a matter of time, but he didn't expect it to be so soon. The thing that shocked him was that his bitter enemy provided him with such valuable information. The nature of such a deed eluded him.

He looked at the visitors again. The creatures looked powerful indeed, at least two of them – the dinosaur and the human – like fox. But why the letter mentioned children? From all reports Gandalf read, the children proved only as an obstacle, a weakness. The letter answered no questions, but rose up even more.

"The Witch-king of Angmar? What does this even mean?" Renamon inquired suddenly. This made Gandalf leave his thoughts and return to reality.

"The Witch-king of Angmar – Sauron's deadliest servant. He has many titles: Captain of Despair, The first of the Nazgul, Lord of Minas Morgul. He is the strongest of the Nine. And he will be the one to lead Sauron's armies here…" Gandalf replied thoughtfully as he watched the thunders and lightning coming from the distant land of Mordor, where the shadows lie.

"The letter mentioned you. I do not obligate you to stay here. You may evacuate with the rest of the civilians, when the evacuation will begin. But if you wish to stay here and fight the darkness that is to come – I will not stop you. We would accept any help we can get…" he added. Children looked at each other again. A decision was about to be made.

"Well, what do you say guys?" Rika asked everyone.

"I say let's do it!" Takato said with determination.

"If what the letter said is true, then, even if we evacuate, and the city will fall, no matter where we run, sooner or later the darkness will be upon us. I think we must help protect this world, because we will be forced to live in it later." Henry said reasonably.

"Guilmon ready!" the dinosaur growled funny.

"Yeah, we'll totally kick butt!" Terriermon added cheerfully.

"Hnh, they won't know what hit them…" Renamon added self-confidently. The decision was made. Rika turned around to face the white wizard, and said confidently:

"We will help you and your men fight this thread. All of us." Gandalf smiled when he heard that.

"We are honored to accept your aid. And we are grateful. I will order immediately to provide you with everything necessary. Plus, you will receive a comfortable place to stay here. It will be a lot better than that hole at the tavern. I am happy we managed to reach an agreement. But it is late, and I trust every one of you is tired. The soldier outside the door will lead you to where you will be staying…" he said. Without much commotion, the children and their digimon left. Tomorrow promised to be interesting…

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Well, that's it. Sorry it's short. The next chapter will be ready soon.


	8. Background

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 8 – Background.

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Another chapter ready. Hope you'll like it. Also, I would like to know your opinion about how the story goes so far =)

P.S: I know I suck in titling chapters.

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The next day came fast. That was mainly because our heroes have slept all night long. This was their first night on normal beds in a warm room and without any cockroaches. Digimon didn't sleep, but they kept quiet during the night, because they didn't wish to disturb their tamers.

When they woke up, the sun was already high. A pleasant surprise was brought to them soon afterwards - a good meal, well, at least it was considered good enough compared to the liquid slime they had to swallow back at that roach-infested tavern.

"Ahh, this is the life!" Takato yawned as he did something that could be considered morning exercise.

"Don't be too happy about it, Gogglehead. We all know that these commodities were provided to us only because we agreed to fight on the white man's side. He's quite a shrewd negotiator, even under his mask of benevolence and kindness." Rika's words were like ice-cold shower to everyone.

"You sure know how to break someone's good disposition in the morning. Did you sleep well?" Takato replied with a much more pessimistic voice.

"You bet I did. Just drop it." Rika cut him off. This was a lie she said though. Her sleep was not as calm and innocent as the others had during the night. She managed to sleep normally only for a couple of hours, all other time she was having nightmares. Whenever she tried to close her eyes, she saw practically one and the same dream: the siege, the fight, and she saw herself. Killed. And each time differently. It was about 11th of her nightmares, when she saw herself being smashed to a bloody pulp of meat by a boulder, she decided not to close her eyes. In this state she waited until her eyes closed themselves and she snapped out into a heavy slumber.

"Rika is right, Takato. The battle will be upon us in a week. And their situation must be very desperate if they recruit even such relative an untrustworthy strangers as us to aid them…" Henry said heavily. Something odd happened to his behavior too. If Henry never was too talkative, now he just was silent for the most of times, rarely speaking. He was worried, just like about everyone. But if Takato tried to remain cheerful even in this time of crisis, and Rika was having a bad mood more often than usual, it effected Henry otherwise.

"We should get more information about whom exactly we will have to face, and prepare ourselves." Rika said with sudden determination. There were no arguments to that idea.

"Hnh, there would probably be some sort of a giant army, I guess. They won't prove much of an obstacle. Their inferior weaponry, like bows and swords won't likely be a thread to us. After all, even humans back at Shinjuku were powerless against us even with their superior technology and armaments." Renamon said with a bit of contempt and with confidence in her powers. She was right, but not entirely.

"You're underestimating our enemy. Don't get arrogant or over-confident in your powers…" Rika said with much irritation in her voice. Such anger shook pretty much everyone, including her digimon. Renamon looked at her with a questioning glare.

"I don't have to remind you WHAT can do an enemy with a bow and a sword, now do I?" she said with even more irritation and anger. Now everyone understood to where this was lead and how Renamon's seemly harmless comment could have had Rika offended.

"Rika, I…" Renamon wanted to apologize.

"Save it for later, now I have something to do. In the meanwhile why don't you make yourself useful and try finding something about our future enemies? Report to me when I'm back." Rika said harshly and left the room, closing the door with a bang. Renamon wanted to follow her, but was stopped by Henry's voice:

"Don't. Let her cool off for a while." He sounded reasonable.

"Yeah, she didn't mean it! It's just all these "adventures" are making her nervous and somewhat frustrated. But she'll get over it, she's a strong girl. Just leave her be for a while." Takato supported the idea.

"I guess you are right. I shall go find information as I was ordered…" Renamon replied. She didn't sound too happy. Just as she was about to teleport out of the room, Henry's voice sounded again:

"Renamon!"

"Yes?" she replied as she slightly turned her head to him.

"Before you will try sneaking into the library, consider a variant of asking someone for information. Nicely." Henry's voice sounded calm and kind, but it was what he said that made Renamon wide her eyes considerably. Because he guessed what was she planning to do.

"I will do as you say." She replied, regaining her normal composure and disappeared into thin air.

"How did you know?" Takato asked Henry as Renamon disappeared.

"You know Renamon, she is still too proud to ask anyone for help, she'd rather do the job herself even if it would be ten times harder to do it alone. I wonder if she heeded my advice." Henry replied when the door to their room opened and a guard walked in.

"Which one of you was wounded?" he inquired.

"Me." a short reply came from Henry.

"I was instructed to escort you to our healing block where you could receive more qualified treatment." the guard said monotonously.

"Alright, lead on. I'll see you later Takato!" Henry replied as he and the guard vanished behind the door.

"Well, it looks like I'm left all alone. I better find Rika, and see what she's up to. Be a good boy, Guilmon, and stay here, while I go look for her…" Takato said to his digimon and the next second he left the room too.

"So, I guess we're stuck together again, right?" Terriermon said grumpily, and the red dinosaur only nodded in reply…

…Gandalf was slowly walking down one of the vast halls of the palace. His thoughts were heavier than usual. Although he managed to persuade almost every soldier to his side, there were still some who were loyal to Denethor. Gandalf knew this so he tried once more to convince the Stewart of Gondor to get over his grief and help in organizing the defense. But all he heard was, as usually, some incomprehensible talk filled with quasi – mysticism and bumbling foolishness about Sauron's "army, that cannot be beat" and "the world of Men will fall".

Gandalf knew about this problem all too well. He could not allow the forces to be split up, and not united under one command. This disorganization would have been proved fatal when the enemy would come. There was one more problem. Because of his stubbornness, Denethor would not order to fire the signal flame to ask Rohan for help. Stupid, but this was yet another problem. One of many, and there was too little time to fix them all.

Gandalf took the message he received from the Nazgul seriously. The evacuation from the city has already begun. All women and children were supposed to be evacuated. Only soldiers and everyone who was able to hold a sword stayed to reinforce the city. Blacksmiths were working day and night tirelessly, forging swords, making arrowheads, shields and armor, so black smoke was covering the … once white city.

Suddenly, Gandalf felt a presence behind him. He stopped walking and slowly turned around. He had a good hunch who it was.

"You should not sneak up on an old person like this. How may I help you?" he asked the digital kitsune, who appeared out of the shadow of the column.

"I have some questions and I want some answers." Renamon replied somewhat arrogantly.

"You're a bit … demanding, aren't you? Depending on the question, I will indulge you, but my answers may prove useless to you." Gandalf replied calmly. That calmness slightly irritated Renamon, as well as the fact that she was forced to look up from below, since Gandalf was quite taller.

"That is for me to decide. Now, I want you to tell me everything you know about the enemies we might encounter when the attack will come." Renamon said coldly. Gandalf raised an eyebrow in a sign of amazement, but soon it was back on its place.

"Very well. Being our ally, you deserve to know. Enemy's army is large and powerful, but the bulk of it is consisted of orcs. They are vile, evil creatures. But they are also skilled in battle, and fight ferociously. In combination with their superior numbers, that gives them the edge in any fight. Their preferred weapons are various sword-type weapons, clubs, and bows, occasionally. But I have read reports of you fighting my men. For such a skilled warrior such as yourself, these orcs will not prove an obstacle." Gandalf made a slight compliment about her fighting abilities, but it went unnoticed.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"There are also trolls. They are very large, strong beasts. No common soldier can hope to stand against their devastating power, only archers can deal with them from afar. They are clumsy, but their brutal strength makes up for it. Armed with maces, they crush ranks of troops and sow fear and panic. If you will encounter them, it would be best to flee." Gandalf continued. A complacent grin appeared on Renamon's face. The white wizard obviously didn't know the limit of her capabilities. The prowess she showed in battle against citadel guards was not nearly that limit.

"I could handle myself." She replied to Gandalf's suggestion to flee whenever encountering a troll.

"And, of course, there are some "acquaintances" of yours, the Nazgul. The Nine pose much danger to your group in particular. Each and every one of them possesses much knowledge of black magic, and they had many years to practice their combat skills. Although they use all these advantages rarely, mostly relying on their ability to inspire fear in their targets and reputation usually does half of their work for them. Only strong-willed people can stand against them without being paralyzed by fear. Often, after hearing their screech, people die because of fear…" Gandalf began to tell. But at this time the yellow digimon was listening quite attentively, she had a feeling that they would encounter the dark Nine eventually.

"Wait. You said they use the advantages rarely. Why?" she interrupted.

"I do not know the answer. But some of my … friends encountered them before. At the place called Weathertop, they, the Nazgul, were pledged to kill a person. They fought the ones that were escorting him, and managed to wound this person. But, luckily, Aragorn appeared in time to drive the Nazgul back and save both the person, and his associates." Gandalf replied.

"Wait again. This man, Aragorn, he fought all Nine at once?" Renamon asked with amazement. Gandalf shook his head.

"No there were only four of them, not all nine. But what was strange that before Aragorn arrived, the Nazgul were able to kill both the person and his protectors a dozen times, yet they didn't do so. They just tossed aside the guards and stabbed Frodo, but not lethally." Gandalf replied. Renamon was an attentive listener, so she spotted.

"So, the person's name is Frodo. I don't know why you were so evasive with telling his name, but I couldn't care less." Renamon replied.

"Plus, I talked to Aragorn about the fight. He confessed that he sensed that his enemies were … like holding back, and didn't even try to attack him… At first, I didn't know what to think about this, but after receiving the letter which told about the attack, I might suspect … that the Nazguls' will and the will of their master … conflict, causing such disruptions…" Gandalf proposed a theory. Renamon memorized it, in order to tell all she heard to her tamer and the others later.

"I would like to know more about their leader… Er-Murazor, is it?" she inquired politely. The white wizard noticed the change of tone of the speech, but didn't show it.

"Ahh, yes, the Witch-king of Angmar. I do possess some knowledge about him. What would you like to know, only his abilities, or, perhaps, his background too?" Gandalf inquired. Renamon wasted a couple of seconds on thinking this through, but her curiosity had an upper hand this time.

"All." She replied shortly.

"Very well, then, let us begin. Er-Murazor was a Numenorean prince. He was… he is very talented in ways of battle, and was a charismatic leader even from childhood. And, as all people of noble breed with much influence, he was able to get a high post in the Numenorean army, which, at those days, was waging war with all kingdoms here, on middle-earth, which didn't bow before their rule.

Murazor didn't obtain the rank of a general by chance though. He was worthy of it. With victories on battlefield in wars against Harad, a southern kingdom, he soon became one of the most famous commanders of his time. But there were … negative sides of him as well. With fame and glory, earned on the battlefield, came lust for power, arrogance, and over-confidence in his powers. And that was his downfall. No matter how many victories were won, how many enemies crushed, future lord of Morgul wanted more and more. He did not require power to perform some task, or for a noble purpose, he wanted power to obtain even more power. In other words, there was no scope for the power he wished to obtain…" Gandalf said and took a breath after his speech.

And Renamon was listening to every word. Her mind, after obtaining this information, started to make parallels... The arrogance, over-confidence and this strife for strength and power, yet without clear scope… It all sounded very familiar. So very familiar…

"That was the reason Murazor started to study magic. He saw in it a way to obtain more power, than could be obtained by physical means, through training and honing his skills with a blade. By that time he was one of the best sword fighters in all of Numenor. So he spent much money and resources to gather all knowledge about this new art for him. But it seemed that he had talent for this as well, after years of studies, he became the most powerful wizard of Men that ever roamed these lands. With powerful magic he was able to easily defeat one, or many opponents. But that was not enough… He wanted to have so much power that he would be able to defeat armies all by himself… And at that moment … He came…" Gandalf said and silenced.

"Sauron?" Renamon inquired.

"Yes… And he proposed Murazor the ring of power. Blinded by his greed, he took it without question, yet he was not deceived, as most believe. Being a powerful wizard by that time, he was able to discover the true purpose of the ring Sauron gave him. But it was his arrogance and over-confidence that lead to his downfall. Murazor hoped to take control of the power within the ring and use it for his own benefit without consequences. That was a terrible mistake. No matter how strong or wise he was, he failed to realize two things: that he was … just a man, and his will was not strong enough to overpower will of an Ainur, a demi-god. The second thing he failed to realize, was that in the ring was not just power, it was Sauron's power, which belonged to him and only to him. And no one can use Dark Lord's power against him… And so Murazor succumbed… One of the greatest strategists of Numenor, and a powerful sorcerer, became a spear of terror in the hand of Sauron, shadow of despair…" Gandalf said and sighed.

"Why is he called "the witch-king of Angmar"?" she inquired once more.

"Er-Murazor performed countless successful missions for the Dark Lord. This is, perhaps, one of the most successful. After Sauron was defeated for the first time, High Nazgul, along with several of his "brothers", seized control of a small realm of Angmar. In a short period of time it became a base for an attack against the divided kingdom of Arnor, once powerful, now destroyed. Only the part controlled by Arthedain managed to survive the attack, the other two kingdoms, Rhudaur and Cardolan, were destroyed. Eventually, with the help of elves, he was defeated, but he has left his mark… And from that time comes the prophesy, that Lord of the Nazgul will never fall by hand of a man…" Gandalf said and silenced again…

"Mithrandir?" suddenly Renamon called him by name. And that startled him a bit.

"Yes?" he inquired.

"Who is stronger? You, or…" Renamon didn't finish because Gandalf replied:

"I am." Renamon grinned a bit when she heard that. "Looks like I'm not the only one who seems to be overconfident in my abilities." she thought, and asked with irony:

"Does the Witch-king know that?"

"Yes, he does. But that will not make him stop. The fact that I'm stronger doesn't make it certain that I cannot be defeated by him… And with all the powerful dark magic he possesses, the Witch-king of Angmar is a powerful foe indeed…" Gandalf ended his rather long tale.

"One last question." Renamon said quietly.

"I am listening." Gandalf replied.

"How old is that Nazgul?" she asked. Gandalf looked at her and sighed:

"Over 1000 years…"

"Thank you for giving me this information." Renamon said.

"You're welcome." Gandalf replied, but there was no one else besides him in the corridor, because Renamon disappeared already…

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There, done. I suppose the Witch-king's background is off-canon in most parts. Oh well…


	9. Later that day

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 9 – Later that day…

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Well, I carry on with this story. Hope you enjoy it so far…

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…Meanwhile, Henry was lead by a soldier to the place called "The healing block". Henry was not exactly too happy to go there, because he read much about medieval medicine, where there was no sterile environment to talk about, no anesthetics whatsoever, etc. He was already preparing himself mentally to endure pain during any sort of treatment. His wound was already closing, but broken bones within his arm were far from being healed.

That's why he tried not to use this arm on some mundane tasks, because it brought extreme pain. And he also knew of the dangers this kind of wound possessed. If bones are not put back together properly, they could grow back wrong, and will need to be broken again. Henry tried to shield his mind from that thought, but in vane.

They have stopped in front of a rather large white building, which, apparently belonged to a whole complex of buildings in this area. Large metal doors were in front of them. It seemed that practically all important buildings had such doors, in case the city would be taken and these buildings could provide to be the last lien of defense.

"Enter, boy. One of our trained healers is already waiting inside." The soldier said and opened the door.

What Henry saw inside pleased him greatly. It was not exactly a rot-infested hole filled with dying and wounded, with the stench of rotten meat, screams of people who are getting operated and all such kind of things. No, the place proved to be quite nice, well lighted, and rather clean. Of course, there were some wounded inside, but not much. There were at least 20 people inside in need of medical attention, but the place was able to hold in much, much more. "This is probably an elite hospital of some sort…" Henry thought as he went in. He was right. This place was reserved especially for tower guards and other infantry.

"You're Henry, right?" one of the personnel addressed to him as he approached.

"Yes. Are you the doctor who will treat me?" Henry asked a question in return.

"That's right. Follow me." The doctor replied and went to one of the many "operation rooms". These small rooms were used to properly heal wounded without interference from the main hall, were most of the wounded were supposed to be kept.

The doctor asked Henry to lie down on a bunk and show him where the arrow made its hit. After doing so, he tied the arm with several special ropes to prevent it from moving, and said:

"It seems your bones are not situated right. Fortunately, they didn't begin to grow back yet, so all I have to do is put them right. To do so I will be forced to make a cut and open your wound one more time." The doctor said with a casual intonation. This indeed was a usual work for him, but for poor Henry it was not the same.

"Will it … hurt?" he asked as he swallowed. The doctor noticed this reaction.

"Not a bit. Sniff this." He said as he took some sort of a herb from his pouch and gave it to Henry.

"What is …" that was all he managed to say before falling unconscious.

"Precious herb. It saves us a lot of trouble…" doctor said as he made a cut with a sharp medical knife and began his work.

… Henry woke up after two hours of heavy sleep. He understood that the herb was some kind of a drug to make people fall unconscious, but he was angry at the doctor. This saved him from enduring the pain doing the operation. When he woke up, the healer was already putting a tight bandage to hold the bones together. The arm now ached with dim pain, rather than a sharp one.

"So you wake up? Good, yet, much earlier than I expected…" the doctor commented as he finished the while thing.

"Right… Well, are we done yet?" Henry asked.

"Almost… There. Now you're patched up and ready to go. But in order to be treated properly, come here every week so that we could check on that.." the doctor replied as they both went out of the room. The doctor planned to escort his patient out of the facility, but someone interfered with his plans…

While Henry and the doctor were making it back to the door, the boy took some attention to perceive and explore the surroundings. The soldiers that were stationed in the hall had some really bad wounds. Broken bones, ribs, and other unpleasant things like cracks in the scull, bruises were the least of them. They all looked pitiful. And for some reason, when Henry was looking at them, they intended to hide their eyes. And the boy didn't know the cause, yet.

"Who are all these people?" Henry asked the doctor.

"They're all tower guards, elite soldiers of Gondor. They were transferred here recently and required some immediate medical attention. I wonder what caused them to come here in such masses… I mean, who could have had inflicted so damage on them? They're not some local farmer militia who can be beat easily even by a drunkard…" the healer replied. Although he didn't knew much, his reply gave Henry an answer – those soldiers were wounded during "capture" of him and the rest group.

"So that's why…" he muttered to himself as he stopped his glare on a trooper for a couple of seconds. But just when Henry was ready to move on further, a strong yet half-hissing voice was heard from behind:

"Do you like what you see?" This voice made Henry turn around rapidly to face who ever said these words. And in front of him he saw a tall man, with more than a half of his face wrapped in bandages of different sorts. Although the boy didn't know the man's name, he recognized that one. It was the same person who fought Renamon during the night fight, got severely beat and grabbed and threatened Rika to make everyone else surrender. The one who led the operation – the commander of internal security forces.

He was looking horrible. One half of his face was practically mummified while the other was still as a mask, showing only significant pain. Henry was pretty shaken and scared by such an unexpected appearance, and took a couple of steps back in confusion and fright. His digimon was far away at the time, so no one could, or would, protect him against any sort of attacks.

"Ease down, boy. I'm not going to strike you down…" the commander said rather peacefully. These words managed to calm Henry down a bit, who was already preparing to fight with his remaining hand.

"You won't? That's a relief. Are you … still holding a grudge?" Henry asked with a bit of fright in his voice. That question seemed to surprise the commander greatly.

"A grudge? For what?" he asked with a bit puzzled intonation. The face, however, still showed nothing.

"For putting up the resistance… Wounding your troops… Or your face…" Henry bit his tongue after the third remark, thinking that it would offend the other conversationalist in a way. It didn't.

"We execute orders, not hold grudges. And we had an order to capture you. All other considerations were secondary." The commander replied monotonously calm. There was no anger in such a voice, but no kindness still.

"Now that you and your friends are on our side, you may no longer fear any of us. For now, we have orders to protect you with our lives on the battlefield, when the time comes, and be sure that every man under my command will execute this order." He added with the same intonation. There was something hollow and empty in it that made Henry shiver inside.

"Uh… Alright. I'm sorry for your men and your face though. Maybe if we would have come quietly without struggle…" Henry felt a bit guilty, because back then he was the first to propose to resist and run away.

"My face is clearly of no importance, because I am still able to hold a sword and fight. As for my troops… The only thing you can do for them is to prove yourself when battle comes that they didn't sacrifice their health in vane. But, by my calculations, you and your friends would fairly compensate on the battlefield for those troops, since you all fight better. A lot." The commander replied, seeming a bit aloof.

"One last question." Henry turned around and said while he was just about to leave.

"Yes?" the commander replied.

"Back then… When you grabbed … Rika and out the sword to her throat… If Renamon would have charged … would you … have killed her?" Henry asked with some hesitation. The commander turned his head to the boy, and for a moment, Henry thought that the remaining half of the face was smiling.

"No. I had orders to capture you all. Alive." He replied. After that Henry left.

"Sorry for interrupting you, commander, but we should get on to changing your bandages." The doctor reminded him.

"Alright. Let's get on with it." The commander replied. The last question Henry posed was still in his head. What he replied to the boy was the truth. Almost…

…Meanwhile, Takato was trying to find out where Rika was going. He followed her discretely for some time, watching from a distance, but, eventually, lost track of her and nearly got lost in the vast alleys and corridors of the third level.

When he almost has given up hope to find her again and find out what was she up to, Takato spotted a soldier standing at attention. Another tower guard, but, perhaps, also a source of information.

"Excuse me, sir, if you have time…" Takato said politely to attract the soldier's attention.

"Well, a civilized person with manners. Or at least compared to the other who was here a couple of minutes ago…" the soldier replied calmly.

"Compared to the other who was here a couple of minutes ago? You mean Rika?" Takato inquired.

"If that is the girl's name. She was here just a couple of minutes ago, searching for our armory. I offered to escort her to the place of her destination, but instead of gratitude I received only a couple of angry glares plus something about "good-for-nothing lousy bastards who keep getting in the way" and such. In the end she just asked for directions and left. And good riddance. She should really watch her temper, otherwise she'll get in trouble, because not all people will tolerate her as I did." The guard replied.

"Can you give me directions to the armory too, please?" Takato asked politely.

"Of course. You should follow this alley then turn to the right, after that to the left, then to the left again. You can't miss it, a big door with a shield and two swords on it." The guard replied and sent the boy on his way…

…Takato ran quickly, and was able to get to the place fast. When he arrived, the door was slightly open. Someone didn't close it properly. He leaned to it and sharpened his hearing to understand what was going inside. He also took a sneak peak inside. He spotted his friend Rika soon, mainly because she was speaking in high tones again. Takato managed to overhear a part of their talk:

"Look, can you provide me with these items or not?" Rika asked in a bit harsh demeanor.

"Well, yes, we still have some templates left from the hobbits, they would fit you almost perfectly, and with some adjustments it would only take us a couple of days. I know we have orders to provide you with anything you need, but, I have to ask, why would you need these for?" the guy who looked more like a dwarf blacksmith than a human, asked.

"One more time someone's gonna compare me to a hobbit I'm gonna… Anyway, you were given orders to provide me with these so just execute the damn order not question it! I'll be back in two days and make sure everything is ready by that time you got that?" Rika asked even more harshly. Her voice almost made the poor guy shiver.

"Y… Yes ma'am. Everything will be ready in two days. I'll … I'll be going now." He replied and left hastily.

"I hate it when people stick their curiosity where they shouldn't…" she muttered to herself as she approached the door, and, unaware that Takato was hiding behind it, opened it forcefully, knocking the eavesdropper to the ground.

"Ouch!" that was all he said as he fell down. Rika sighed and slapped her forehead when she saw him.

"Jeez, Gogglehead, you're a worthless spy…" she said as she came closer and offered him a hand to help stand up. Takato didn't reject it.

"Sorry for eavesdropping at you, Rika… Um… Are you gonna get angry at me now?" he asked with a bit of fright. Rika sighed again at his reaction.

"What's the point anyway? It's not like getting angry at you will stop you from doing the same thing again later…" she replied with mild irritation.

"I'm sorry…" Takato replied guilefully.

"Look, stop apologizing for every insignificant thing. It's no big deal. Anyways, what do you want?" Rika replied as she regained her calm composure.

"Um… I wanted to know what you wanted to get from that guy in the armory…" he started to say.

"Well, I sort of… Ordered for myself some protective gear… Rika replied a bit reluctantly.

"Armor? What for? Don't tell me you want to volunteer for a guard duty or something…" Takato replied jokingly but silenced because Rika's face was serious.

"Can't you put two plus two together, Takato? What armor is made for?" she posed a question herself.

"I'm not that dumb, and I know that for protection, what I mean … you never sought something like that when we were I the Digiworld… Neither of us did…" Takato sounded a bit offended.

"In case you haven't noticed, this is not Digiworld. Back there we were not viewed as targets most of the time. Those digimon we had to face in most part felt that we humans are way beneath their contempt, and fought our digimon instead. This worlds, though it possesses a bit lesser dangers for our digimon, is a lot more hostile than the Digiworld ever were. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Rika asked as they both walked slowly towards the place where they were supposed to be stationed.

"I'm not sure…" Takato replied.

"I'll explain. In the Digiworld we knew battle, even epic battle, when we were fighting one strong enemy one-on-three. Or something like that. But this… this is not battle, this is war. And here WE are also targets…" Rika said and silenced for a second. Takato didn't interrupt her.

"When Henry was shot by those savage creatures, I was scared. Not for myself, but for his safety. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if he wouldn't have been so lucky to have his arm in front of the arrow?" Rika asked.

"No…" Takato replied.

"He would have been shot in a lung, or some other major organ… And probably would have died… After that we got ambushed by those scouts and were about to be tortured, if it weren't for valiant efforts of Renamon and Guilmon's bright idea. And after that we were ambushed here, and this time I ended up with the blade near my throat…" she continued and touched the small scar on her neck made by the blade.

"That time I was simply terrified. Yes, despite what you might think of me I can be scared just like any other person. I was afraid that insane freak will just cut me down… So you see, in this place death could be around every corner, and I'm just a 12-year old girl who doesn't want to die at such a young age. So I don't want to be killed by a misguided arrow or something, so I ordered some protection. That's why I got angry at Renamon today, because she doesn't realize the dangers this world poses. I'm afraid that when we'll fight again she'll jump a platoon of enemy troops and will get torn apart…" she added.

"But Renamon fought more than a platoon of elite soldiers quite effectively last time…" Takato argued.

"Yeah, right, when they all had an order to take us alive or something, so they didn't really fight. Otherwise I wonder how many times we would have been shot by archers, who were not far behind back there. I don't want to lose Renamon, or you, or Henry, or anyone else in our team. That's why … I ordered three suits of armor to be made. Digimon don't need such protection, but we certainly could use it. If we still are no match even for a soldier of the enemy, being weak children and such, this equipment will buy us some time for our digimon to pull us out of our predicament." Rika explained.

"Gee, I didn't know you care so much for our safety." Takato grinned.

"Don't get too mushy about it. We are alone is this place, so we much stick together. Anyway, we're here. I wonder what new info Renamon will reveal to us..." Rika said as they were approaching the door…

…Renamon was already waiting inside indeed. Henry was present too, but he didn't bother the digital kitsune with any questions or with his presence. He knew better than to try bothering her when she was thinking. And there was a lot for her to reflect on. "Back than… When I was proposed to become a Deva and receive a lot of power in exchange for servitude… Thank goodness I made the right decision to reject…" she thought as Rika and Takato entered the room. Rika seemed to be in a better mood than earlier today.

"Well Renamon, what did you learn?" Rika asked.

"I learned some basic information about our enemies, and also have learned that arrogance, over-confidence and power which seems to be easy to obtain can lead to a disaster…" Renamon replied. The second half of the proposition she said amazed everyone.

"Oh really? And how did you learn that?" Rika asked, she seemed pleased.

"I saw an example to what these traits might lead me to…" Renamon replied somewhat evasively. But she knew to whom, or to what she was referring to...

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	10. Sword of Sauron

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 10 – Sword of Sauron.

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The big battle … begins =)

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… A cloud of dust was slowly approaching Minas Tirith. It was coming from Osgiliath – swarms of Mordor were coming across the river. In Osgiliath they met no resistance – all troops were evacuated from there. It was a prudent measure, small garrison stationed there couldn't have held the forces of darkness for a long time, and they would have been overrun by crushing numerical supremacy of the enemy.

The White city was silent. Large streets of the first and second levels, once so vigorous, full of life, struggle and commotion, now were silent as streets of a ghost-town. All civilians left the city, with their hopes for future depending on those soldiers and militia, who stayed to fight, and to die for that cause.

Soldiers stood behind every corner, unwavering, motionless and silent, like statues. The Sun was eclipsed by dark clouds which came from Mordor. It was quiet … like quiet before the storm. Soldiers on the walls watched as the cloud of dust approached, and were preparing themselves mentally for the upcoming battle.

The forces Sauron has amassed to destroy the last hope of all free people of Middle-Earth were humongous. Massive hordes from Minas Morgul and Lugburz outnumbered the forces Gondor managed to gather. To reinforce the attack many vicious trolls were added to the army, they were used to arm catapults and move other heavy siege equipment, as well as powerful attackers if the gates would be breached. And to insure victory, Sauron ordered his nine Nazgul – his generals, to lead the army.

Our heroes were on the walls, watching this thread coming closer, step by step. The air was stuffy, and it was hard to breathe. Beside them, there were several soldiers and tower guards. The children blended with them almost perfectly, wearing their chainmailles, which were provided to them several days ago. Heavier armor would have been too heavy for 12-year old children, but an armor consisting of small metal rings was combined both protection and lightness.

"They are coming… And in great numbers…" Henry said heavily.

"There is no turning back now…" Takato added. Screeches from far away were heard, showing that the most feared and powerful enemies were also present. Rika gave a slight glance at the faces of the troops around her. They were all motionless, like stone masks, and were showing determination. They knew what price needed to be paid for victory, and were ready to pay that price.

Suddenly, sounds of someone running were heard, and in a moment a runner came to them, probably with a message. A 17 – year old boy, probably from the militia. He took a few breaths and said:

"Sir Denethor the II, Stewart of Gondor, is assembling all troops on the third level. He wants to have a word with them…" and ran farther to transmit the news to others. Without any words the troops moved towards the white tower. Our heroes figured out they need to go too.

They knew all too well who that Denethor was. They heard people talk about him several times, including Gandalf. And that Steward proved to be a real pain in the neck, refusing to do anything to help out, because "all hope was lost".

"How do you think, did Gandalf manage to convince that guy to finally fulfill his obligations as a Steward and lead his people?" Takato inquired.

"I guess we will find out right about now…" Rika replied as they joined the flow of soldiers who were marching to the third level…

… The big square of the third level was cramped with people. It seems that everyone came to hear the speech, although that was not true. Many more were left outside the square because there was not enough room. From up the tower there was a clear sight at the enemy legions. Black quadrants of orcs were approaching closer, followed by siege towers and catapults. There were so many of them that from above it appeared like a sea, a sea of enemies. That was demoralizing.

Finally, with a small escort, Denethor appeared out, and approached the tribune. Among that escort Henry managed to spot his not so old "acquaintance". The escort was formed out of generals and high-ranking military officers. The commander of internal security force was amongst them.

Every last chat about what's going on was silenced. Denethor was about to speak. He looked terrible for someone of his age. He looked like a 70 year old man, his face was thin and wrinkly, and he had sacks under his both eyes.

"It is pointless to struggle…" Denethor finally said. These words were met with silence.

"Against the power of Sauron there could be no victory… Look at them yourselves, they will crush us anyway, whether we fight or not. The age of Men is over… Run! Save yourselves!" his words were loud enough to be heard by everyone. And they sew dissent in the ranks, as not only the wavering and the cowardly were losing heard.

"Hnh, what a coward. Pathetic." Renamon said with anger and contempt in her voice.

"No kidding, what does that guy thinks he's doing? He will cause much of heartache to his troops, draining their will to fight on." Henry replied. When Denethor was about to say another treacherous word, suddenly, Gandalf approached him.

"I've had enough of you…" he said with anger as he delivered a blow with his staff to the stomach, and after that to the head, making the Stewart collapse to the floor.

"Men! Today the fate of Gondor and all of Middle-Earth is in your hands. You are the only ones capable of stopping this menace that comes. Your wives, children, parents are counting on you! If we fail to stop these abominations, your families' fates are sealed. Orcs will be upon them sooner or later, and won't spare anyone. Will you allow that to happen?" Gandalf asked with a very strong voice, the one that is capable to move armies.

"NO!!!" thousands of voices replied back, as thousands of fists were thrust in the air. Surrounded by his fellow men, only the commander didn't say anything and hid his eyes.

"Then today we fight! No matter how many vile orcs Sauron will send against us, remember that victory is assured as long as we fight and die like true people of Gondor! Back to your positions! Prepare for battle!" Gandalf ordered as he jumped on his white horse, called Shadowfax, and rode down the wide road that lead to the lower levels, followed by his troops, who knew where their loyalties lay.

"Now THAT is a leader!" Terriermon said from Henry's hands as they followed the crowd of troops, and were caught in the flux.

Denethor rose from the ground slowly, as the last of his escort were leaving, following their new leader.

"No… Ristor… Not you too? Do you betray me … too?" he hissed to the last of his men who were leaving – our well-known commander.

"I swore my allegiance to Gondor, not to you … And you betrayed Gondor." Ristor growled in return and left. After that Denethor collapsed to the floor again, beaten, defeated, and alone…

… The enemy forces were insight. They were not close enough to see their wicked faces, but they were barely within of a flight of an arrow. But it was enough to hear their screams.

"Gurum!"

"Gurum!"

"Gurum!" every last orс was repeating the same word, and these voices combined into a powerful wave of sound.

"What does this mean?" Takato asked one of the soldiers, as they all were watching everything from the wall.

"Death in black speech they use…" the soldier replied dimly. The walls were cramped with foot soldiers, archers and other infantry. The city was in full battle readiness…

… Orcish lieutenant – commander, Gothmog, was watching the city while standing in first ranks of his army. The Witch-king of Angmar himself gave the command on the field to, and the orc knew the price of failure. However, he was confident in his army.

"This city smells with fear… Let us calm their worries… Release the prisoners!" he growled, and with a nasty giggle the engineers have put their machines to work, releasing upon the city a rain of … horrible projectiles.

The troops have raised their shields to defend themselves against the projectiles. It was to their horror to find out that these projectiles were heads, heads of warriors of Gondor, who were captured and decapitated to serve as weapons of terror.

A couple of heads were flying towards the place our heroes were standing on. The children were frozen still, watching as these horrible dead heads were approaching them, but just when they were about to hit them, Renamon jumped in the way and deflected them all.

"This is war…" Takato whispered as he saw both disgust and horror on Renamon's face. This was too much even for her. And the battle has barely started…

…Gondorian catapults replied almost immediately, tossing giant stones at the enemy, destroying their machinery and squishing the troops. As the duel between catapults was heating up, Orcish commander decided that it was time to begin the assault.

At his whim impressive siege towers, pushed by trolls, started to move towards the walls. Orcs have hid behind the towers to evade the rain of arrows coming from the fortress. Also a large mass of orcs charged the gates with a battering ram. They tried to break through the gates, but their efforts proved useless, as the gates refused to break.

The soldiers were watching the towers approach the walls. Then, a command was heard from Gandalf, who, on his snow-white steed, was riding back and forth, giving orders and coordinating the assault. With that, archers have started to rain arrows at their new targets. But it was hard to kill trolls. Their skin was thicker than armor plating, and there was needed many arrows to bring them down.

"Rika, may I go down there and deal with these trolls?" Renamon requested her tamer.

"And get swarmed by all those orcs? No way." Rika rejected the idea.

"But we must do something! Guilmon! Open fire!" Takato ordered his digimon, and the red dinosaur started to shoot fireballs out of his mouth down at the trolls, sending one tower on fire immediately. Many orcs were in that tower at the moment, and horrible screams of their death were met with a cheerful scream at the walls.

"Great idea, Takato! Digivolution!" Henry replied as he slashed his blue card, and with much flashes and sparks, Terriermon transformed into Gargomon, a bunny-dog digimon with barrel guns for hands. Every soldier around distracted their attention from the enemy, astounded by what they just saw.

"Mvahahaha! Yeah! I'm cooking with fire!" Gargomon shouted cheerfully as he released a volley of devastating bullets on the enemies below, creating chaos and panic, eliminating orcs and trolls with spraying fire. No shield could have held an impact with such bullets.

As both Guilmon and Gargomon were so busy, Renamon gave her tamer such a glare, as she was left out of the loop. Her diamond storm didn't have the same range of attack as Guilmon's fireballs and Gargomon's bullets. She was a melee-fighting digimon, and her tamer was reluctant to send her to melee combat.

Rika didn't reply anything, she just slashed a card through her D-Power, and in a second a large gun appeared on Renamon's arm. She remembered that gun well – she used it once when she tried to blast Guilmon's head off when they first met.

"Now we're talking." Renamon sounded satisfied as she aimed and fired at one of the trolls, hitting him right in the eye, with the blast coming out of his scull on the other side.

"Hnh, headshot…" she commented as she continued to fire accurate bolts of energy, dispatching one important target after another. The enemy forces on that flank had heavy casualties, inflicted in a short period of time, half of the siege towers were destroyed, and panicking trolls caused even more deaths to their own.

Meanwhile more and more dead orcs were piling up near the gates in their senseless attempt of breaching them. But it was all for naught, the gates were to thick and too well-made to cripple before that primitive ram of theirs. And Gondorian archers were doing their job well, sending one orc after another to their ancestors.

"Where are you going you useless scum? Get back there and breach that gate!" Gothmog growled as he caught one of his fleeing underlings by the throat.

"But sir, we can't breach it!" the orc mumbled in fear.

"Don't be an idiot, go and breach that gate!" Gothmog ordered and released the orc from his grip.

"But it can't be breached! We will die for nothing!" the orc still refused to go back.

"Gront will breach it…" the orc lieutenant said and a nasty grin appeared on his ugly face…

…In a matter of moments a new giant battering ram was slowly making its way towards the main gates. Orcish troops have stepped away, giving the way to the magnificent moving construction. They say that this ram was created by Sauron himself, and that it was created to break through such gates that could have even enchanted. The ram in form of a wolf's head with flames inside designed to unleash fire upon any enemy who would be behind the gates. With the help such ram Minas Ithil was taken and became Minas Morgul.

"Gront! Gront! Gront!" orcs shouted as the battering ram was getting closer to the gates. They didn't look so impenetrable now. Catapults tried to hit the ram with heavy stones, but missed, and now Gront was too close for them to shoot at it.

"Holy joke that thing will breach the gates for sure! Fire!" Takato ordered his digimon, and the other two have followed that order as well, concentrating their fire on the ram, but to no use. Sauron didn't create this magnificent and devastating machine to be destroyed so easily.

"Damn, nothing works!" Henry exclaimed as the ram got dangerously close to the gates. It was just then when Renamon looked at the ram again. The ram itself was supported by four chains, and that fact gave her an idea.

"Wait here." She said as she ran rapidly towards the gates.

"Renamon! Wait! What are you going to do?" Rika screamed as her digimon fled.

"I know what I'm doing. Trust me." Renamon replied confidently as she reached the gates and jumped from them at the ram. She landed safely, and spotted one of the supporting chains near her. It took her only a few shots to destroy the chain, but there were three more remaining. The orc commander spotted her attempts and screamed like mad:

"Archers! Kill it! Kill the creature! Don't let it destroy the ram!" With that a couple of hundred archers aimed at the yellow digimon and tried to hit her with arrows. She only managed to hide behind an edge of the carcass, that protected her against hundreds of arrows. One of the arrows painfully scratched her leg, which was left out of cover.

"Damn, those guys aren't joking…" she hissed in pain as she moved towards the next chain that held the ram. Her maneuvers were seen from the walls.

"We must help her! Archers, provide covering fire! Men, follow me!" one of the officers shouted, and, followed by about 50 regular soldiers and handful of tower guards, left the fortress through the gates and attacked the enemy archers violently, breaking their lines and making them flee. The orcs who tried to counterattack were cut off by covering rain of arrows from the walls.

"Damn! All available troops! To the gate! And bring out our "secret" weapon!" Gothmog ordered his orcs. With that a wave of orcs went to the gates, and tried to break through the small detachment that protected the ram and Renamon on it. Tower guards formed the exterior line, forming a wall with their big shields, a wall not so easily to overcome to orcs. Regular infantry formed behind.

"Destroy the ram! We'll buy time for you!" one of the soldiers screamed. Renamon nodded and started to shoot down another chain. The fighting at the gates was becoming more intense, as one after one soldiers of Gondor were falling, but orcs lost many too. Archers were raining arrows from the walls at their heads, causing them many casualties.

When Renamon almost shot down the third chain, the perimeter formed by the soldiers was breached.

"Close the gates! The enemy will enter if you do not!" one of the remaining tower guards screamed just before his head was smashed by an Orcish mace. With that the gates were promptly closed as the survivors grouped around Gront in order to buy more time, even with their lives. That was enough, as Renamon managed to shot down the third chain, and barely evade more of black arrows launched at her. The ram was too heavy to be supported by one chain, and collapsed to the ground. "It would be impossible to repair it, our archers are doing their job greatly…" Renamon thought as she teleported herself out of danger, and those troops that were protecting her died a warrior's death…

… The fall of Gront was met with more cheerful screams from the walls. Although some of the towers managed to get to the destination, and orcs managed to seize control of some points of the wall, they were contained and were not progressing forward.

It was then when suddenly out of the sky there was a screech. A horrible screech, which made many men cover their ears and shout in terror:

"Nazgul!!!"

Eight horrible dragons appeared out of the sky, each was mounted by a dark rider. With a tremendous speed and dreadful screeches, that were chilling to the bone, in a triangular formation they have attacked the catapults, mounted on towers, sewing dread, horror and despair into Gondorian ranks.

"Archers! Fire at will! Shoot them down! Shoot them down!" Gandalf commanded as he rallied the fleeing troops back into battle. Archers tried to shoot the Nazgul down, but it was very hard, as fear paralyzed them and arrows didn't reach the target.

"Guilmon! Try hitting one of them!" Takato moaned as he covered his ears, the screams of death were just unbearable.

"You heard him Gargomon!" Henry added, as they both concentrated the attack on the closest one of the flying fell beasts. But it was not as easy as they though. Not only the beast was hard to hit, as he maneuvered to evade fire, but also it's rider after delivering one evil cry, casted some sort of a shield around the beast, that deflected both Guilmon's fireballs and Gargomon's bullets.

"They can't penetrate their shield!" Rika screamed as both Takato and Henry took out cards that had the ability to empower all attacks, and sliced them through their D-powers. By that time the rest of the Nazgul noticed their activity and formed a wedge in the air, and flew right at the digimon and children.

"We will not be able to evade that… We're doomed…" Rika mumbled as their digimon, adding Renamon who recently arrived back, prepared for impact. It was just then when more than 30 tower guards, armed with pikes and large shields, and several Itilien scouts arrived at their position.

"Form phalanx! Pikes forward! Archers behind!" a familiar voice was heard, and as everyone soon understood, the troops were lead by Ristor. But there was no time for warm welcomes as the Nazgul, with more dreadful screeches, charged at the wall of pikes. They hoped to instill fear and make the phalanx fall apart, but it didn't work. Guards of the citadel were elected among the bravest and most capable warriors, trained to fight and not to fear.

The Nazgul slammed the phalanx at full speed. Three of them were shot down when they came close enough by the digimon, while the rest lost their fell beasts and were tossed away from the impact. Practically all formation was smashed, and more than a half of them died in the impact, but they managed to protect the children. Without any words, the remaining soldiers got from the ground and followed their commander to the place where they were needed most…

… The day was coming to an end as orcs were tired to press forward with such casualties and without any result. Beaten and defeated they returned to their field camp to rest and prepare for another assault. Today was a bad day for them. They lost almost all of their catapults, half of their towers and countless number of foot troops. Plus their pride, the Nazgul air force, received a ridiculously humiliating defeat today, as almost all of them were shot down… Almost…

"And this is it? I expected a lot more from our foes…" Renamon said in her usual mock-the-enemy intonation, while her friends were resting on the wall. It was their post, and they were not allowed to leave it.

"There's something wrong here indeed… It was just too easy… I expected the Nazgul to be a lot stronger…" Henry replied to that thought.

"Wait… There was… How many Nazgul we shot down today?" Rika suddenly posed a question.

"I got one." Guilmon replied.

"One on my account." Terriermon added.

"Also one." Renamon concluded.

"And those pike men got about five. Why did you ask?" Takato inquired.

"Because three plus five equals eight. And there are nine of them…" Rika said dimly. Silence went for a minute.

"Oh-oh, trouble." Terriermon mumbled.

"Very severe trouble. And I think I know who that trouble would be…" Renamon added even dimmer…

… The relative calmness of the Orcish field camp was disturbed by a very familiar flapping of wings. Master arrived. Gothmog along with several of his attendants rushed forward to meet the Lord of Morgul. A tall Nazgul came down from the skies, flying his Fell beast. On his head, there was a black crown, which resembled a helmet also.

"Report to me now, commander." A terrible hiss was heard from all directions.

"Milord, we suffered severe casualties. Many of trolls and our siege equipment were lost, and we didn't make much progress yet. We managed to capture a part of the wall on the left flank, but our efforts there are hindered by the white wizard…" Gothmog reported rapidly.

"And what of the right flank?" the witch-king inquired.

"No progress at all. These … creatures… We never encountered them before. They strike from afar with magic we cannot fight against. They destroyed all of our siege equipment there… And they were responsible for the defeat of the other Nazgul… We have forces to reinforce that flank and attack again, but that will leave us to attacks from behind. If any large reinforcements should arrive to the enemy, it will be a disaster for us…" Gothmog mumbled.

"Send forth all legions. Do not stop the attack until the city's taken. Slay them all!" Witch-king hissed in rage.

"And what of the creatures?" Gothmog dared to inquire.

"I … will … break … them…" with that Witch-king lifted from the ground on his flying steed, and soon multiple horns signalized another attack…

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That's it. Well, what do you think?


	11. A knife in the dark

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 11 – A knife in the dark.

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Another chapter ready. I want say special thanks to GhostKing666 for accurately spotting a relative error in my storyline as to why digimon do not digivolve into their ultimate forms and wreak havoc. I will try to give an explanation to that in this chapter.

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…New attack struck deeply at night. There were no moon, no stars, since a black cloud covered the entire sky on miles around. Pitch black darkness covered the white fortress, obscuring sight and giving a sense of insecurity, and encroaching danger.

Once again, sound of many marching troops alerted everyone in the fortress about the incoming attack. But there was nothing else that could have given away the enemy's presence. From the walls countless defenders of Gondor were trying to see the enemy through the darkness of the night, but in vane. Orcs were not carrying any torches and were not screaming their war-cries. That could have had given away their whereabouts.

After someone sounded the alarm, many troops returned to their positions on the walls, and the tamers and their digimon were among that armed crowd.

"I can hear them approaching, but I can't see anything!" one of the archers near them commented as he was preparing his bow and arrows.

"I wonder how they still dare to attack after that beating they have received earlier!" the other archer replied eagerly. The moral of the soldiers was high after the victory earlier that day, when forces of Mordor were decimated when they tried to storm the walls.

Multiple steps were getting closer and closer, but still no enemy appeared. Everyone on the walls was watching in a vane attempt to spot at least any enemy, but still, no one appeared.

"Hmm… Strange…" Renamon commented as she too was watching for anything coming from below.

"What is it Renamon?" her tamer inquired.

"I see very well in the dark… But I still can't see anything through that darkness. It is like solid, a cloak for the enemy troops…" Renamon replied.

"The enemy is smarter than we thought. They must be using some magic to minimize our advantage with ranged weapons. Because of that … that darkness our digimon cannot aim directly…" Henry replied.

"The orcs, as all spawns of darkness, see better when there are no sunlight. They are using that as an advantage to them and as a disadvantage to us…" on of the archers gasped.

"Let's see if we can lighten things up. Guilmon, fire several flares to see what the enemy is up to." Takato ordered his digimon and without any words the red dinosaur launched several fireballs in approximate enemy's direction. This didn't work as it should. The fireballs flew only about twenty meters before they suddenly disappeared. And even before that, their fire and light illuminated nothing. The enemy remained unseen. Yet.

"Damn it didn't work!" Takato said in frustration.

"That means we'll have to shoot blindly! Sounds good to me. Mvahahaha!" Gargomon said a bit sadistically-cheerful as he jumped on a parapet and started to fire in random directions, obviously having pleasure from what he was doing. Sounds of his bullets hitting flesh were heard many times, but there were no screams of panic, or pain, or anything. But then, suddenly, Renamon heard a swift whooshing sound. She knew what it was.

"Duck you idiot!" she hissed as she pulled Gargomon from the top of a parapet and right after that a dozen arrows pierced through the air right where the green dog-rabbit digimon was standing.

"Whoa! Thanks, I owe you…" Gargomon replied, still being in a bit of shock. Soon after that, a rain of black arrows dropped on the walls, killing many soldiers who were too careless and slow to hide from them under their shields or behind the parapet.

"The enemy archers mean business… Archers! Fire at will! Anywhere!" one of the officers commanded and the archers on the walls started to spray arrows in random directions in a weak hope of hitting the enemy that hid in darkness. But the enemy's casualties were not big because of inaccuracy of such attempts, and one after one, archers of Gondor were falling from the walls with arrows pierced through their heads and throats.

"Get away from the parapets! Get away! The enemy has an edge in this skirmish, don't waste your arrows and lives!" Gandalf ordered as he, once more, rode on his white steed across the defensive perimeter, followed by a sturdy cohort of tower guards.

Gandalf has got to the top of the gates and raised forth his staff. With a bright flash that emanated from it, the darkness started to retreat, revealing the enemy that hid beneath it. This was met with cheer at the walls, and with dim silence below. This cheer, however, didn't last long, as the darkness stopped disappearing, and only a circle of 50 meters on radius was lighted up by Gandalf's staff.

Eight black riders were standing right in front of the gates, with their two-handed swords in their hands. Behind them there were trolls, but not the trolls everyone saw once in a while. They looked like walking fortresses, as every last one of them was covered from head to toe with metal armor, which defended every centimeter of the skin. Eyes were defended with steel plates with little holes in it.

"Hmm… Someone's been doing their homework…" Renamon said as she aimed her gun and shot the troll in the eye, and watched with a bit of sadness that the bullet ricocheted.

But there was more. Soon out of the darkness enemy's foot soldiers appeared – the orcs. But they looked different from those who were seen before. These were taller, looked stronger, carried large round shields with an emblem that looked like a moon disfigured by a ghastly face of death. Gondorian archers opened fire at them as soon as they appeared, but the orcs formed something that looked like a tortoise formation, which protected well against arrows, and retreat back into the darkness.

"I recognize these ones. These orcs are from Minas Morgul. Looks like the Nazgul are pulling their own forces into the fight." Rika said, when suddenly a couple of dozen enemy archers ran put of the darkness that was cloaking them and shot a couple of volleys of arrows. They flew and stroke down many of archers who were too close to the parapets.

Takato, in his natural curiosity, was too close to it too. He witnessed the enemy archers' fire at the defenders of the walls. And one of the arrows was flying towards him. Time like slowed down as he saw the arrow coming closer. A flash of pictures of his past started to appear before his eyes as the arrow was about to pierce through his scull. Mother, father, his digimon, his friends…

But, at the last moment, as he was looking into the eyes of his own death, the arrow was blocked by a shield of a soldier, and the arrow got stuck in it, with nearly a centimeter away from the boys' face. The next moment Takato found himself dragged away from the parapet.

"Damn you boy! Mithrandir said to keep away, so follow his order for your own good! Haradrim archers won't think twice before nailing your empty head with their arrows." The soldier said harshly as he released the boy from his grip.

"Takato, are you alright?" his friend asked with worry as they approached him immediately, but the boy was not able to reply right about that moment, as he was too shocked to understand anything, and his eyes were showing animal fear. He recovered back in a few minutes…

Meanwhile Gandalf was watching the enemy forces from above, while his archers were raining arrows upon the enemy, yet their shots proved somewhat useless, because heavy-armored trolls and the Nazgul below were not harmed by them. But then, suddenly, the Nazgul started chanting a spell of some sort. Gandalf didn't know what spell they were going to cast, but he got a good hunch what it was able to do.

"Assemble the men behind the gates, commander." He ordered dimly to Ristor.

"Yes, sir. Right away." The commander replied and was about to go execute his orders, when he was suddenly stopped by Gandalf's voice:

"After that, take your best men with you and go defend our … new allies. Let nothing harm them." The white wizard was obviously referring to the digimon and their tamers.

"We will defend them with our lives." the commander replied confidently and left.

A few minutes after the commander left Gandalf started to notice something strange. The Nazgul below formed something like a semi-circle, with their chanting gaining strength. Something started to appear in the center of that semicircle. It grew and grew, gaining a form of a sphere. The white wizard's eyes widened when he saw that – he guessed what it was going to do.

"Retreat from the gates!" he shouted to soldiers who already formed a phalanx right behind them, but it was too late. Eight Nazgul launched their dark sphere at the gates, and when on hit it exploded, knocking out both the gates and many soldiers behind it. After the explosion trolls charged it, crushing the thinned ranks of Gondorian infantry, creating panic and chaos. Morgul orcs were close behind, securing a foothold at the breach…

… From the part of the wall where our heroes were, it was perfectly visible how vile hoards of Mordor were attacking and killing anyone they found, even wounded. How the trolls were tearing apart detachments of soldiers, who were powerless against them, and how countless regular infantry and tower guards were sacrificing themselves in a vane attempt of stopping the enemy and covering the retreat of routing forces.

"Rika, I think we might need something more powerful than mere guns to stop this menace…" Renamon said to her tamer.

"You're right." Rika replied as she drew a blue card out of her deck, and Henry and Takato followed her example. Rika slashed the blue card through her D-Power in order to activate the Digivolution process and transform Renamon into Kiubimon. But then, suddenly … nothing happened.

"Hey what the …?" everyone asked in amazement and irritation, as the tamers tried slashing the damn card again and again. But still, nothing happened. Only some sparks appeared, nothing more.

"I don't get it, what's the problem?" Takato asked in amazement as he shook his D-Power and tried to get it working again, but in vane.

"For some reason our cards are not working anymore… Err, Rika, you do know slamming your D-Power against the wall won't do any good, don't you?" Henry asked Rika, who was slamming the thing in anger.

"Useless piece of junk! How did you manage to evolve into Gargomon earlier then, Rabbit-ears?" she asked Gargomon in irritation.

"I don't know, but I'm starting to feel funny…" Gargomon replied with a wheezing voice, as if he was about to sneeze, as his form begun to tremble and shake like some liquid, and he digivolved back into Terriermon, to much shock to everyone.

"Terriermon, what happened?" Henry asked with worry.

"I don't know, Henry. I felt that someone … or some thing … forced me to de-evolve. It felt … strange. Like something was draining power out of me…" Terriermon said in confusion, as his tamer picked him up.

"Well, cards or no, we still must try and help those troops fight the enemy out of the city! Let's go!" Takato said and was about to take the lead and go to the fighting, followed by the others when they suddenly stopped, hearing Renamon's voice. They turned around, and Renamon was staring at the darkness that surrounded the fortress.

"Something is coming… I hear wings flapping…" she commented.

"Wings flapping? But we shot down all the squealers in the last battle!" one of the archers around said in disbelief.

"All, but one…" Henry replied dimly to him.

The next moment a strange wave of sound came out of the darkness. It was barely hearable to a human ear, but it had immense power. It was like the squeal of a Nazgul, in effects, but only much, much stronger. The wave went through every one on that section of the wall, killing everyone who was not strong-willed enough. They died from fear.

One after one, with horrible screams, archers and other soldiers collapsed to the floor, and died in agony. Digimon and their tamers collapsed to their knees as well, barely holding it together not to pass out. They tried to close their ears with their hands in a futile attempt to stop the ultra-sonic wave from making their brains explode. But the wave ignored such primitive barriers.

"What … is that … sound? I can't hold it much longer!" Terriermon and Guilmon moaned in the same time. Then, the wave disappeared, and the flapping of the wings came nearer. Out of the darkness, another fell beast arrived and landed on a wide section of the wall. A black rider was on its back, but it was different than the others. It bore some sort of a helmet-like crown.

The beast landed rather gracefully and lowered his spine to help the rider get down. The Nazgul got down, and coddled the beast a bit. The beast let out a pleased sound.

"Go away now, I will not be needing you any longer." The Nazgul said, and the beast got up in the air and disappeared in the darkness again.

"Witch – king … of … Angmar…" Rika moaned as she tried to recover from the devastating sound wave, empowered by dark magic. This remark made the Nazgul turn in her direction. He looked at them, and if he had a face, a mocking smile would have appeared. All people he was commanded to kill, at one place, before him, and helpless.

"That is it? That's all it took to break you? You are weak, I should never have hoped that …" he didn't finish the phrase and drew his sword. Slowly, he was approaching the digimon and their tamers, with a determination to end them once and for all. When he was only a couple of steps away from them, suddenly, from a corridor, a dozen of troops arrived, with Ristor leading them. All were guards of the citadel, and heavily armed. Their appearance drew the attention of the Witch-king.

"There he is! Get him!" the commander ordered and bravely leaped to attack.

"Fool!" the Nazgul hissed and unleashed another sound wave. It killed almost instantly half of the soldiers coming at him, and forced the other half collapse on their knees as well. This also rendered the children unconscious.

"You are not worth my while." Witch-king hissed in anger, as he approached the collapced officer…

…Rika, among others, was rendered unconscious by raw dark power of the Nazgul's sonic attack. A couple of moment's after she snapped out, she started to hear … a voice. That voice was distant, but very familiar:

"Rika! Rika wake up! Your friends need you!"

"Grandmother? Uh, what are you doing here?" Rika asked in confusion, as the vision disappeared she started to see blurry images around her, and soon opened her eyes again, only to see Renamon's face above hers. Her digimon managed to crawl to her, being less paralyzed by fear then other digimon.

Both Rika and her digimon turned their heads to where the Witch-king was. The Nazgul was holding the commander by the throat, and the poor fellow was hung up in the air like a bag of meat.

"You, mere mortal, hoped you can fight against me?" the Witch-king was humiliating the commander, but he didn't care much. With his remaining eye he gave one desperate glare to the digimon, which was like a message: "Run!"

"Rika … That officer… is buying us time… Try biomerging … one more time… It's our only chance…" Renamon hissed as she tried to get up, but collapsed to the floor again.

"I … I will try… Biomerge … activate…" Rika hissed as she slashed the blue card once more, hoping that it would work. Suddenly, a yellow glow appeared around her and Renamon, it forced the Lord of Nazgul drop the unfortunate commander, who was barely alive and redirect his attention on a new thread.

A flashing light appeared, as Rika and Renamon combined into one, and were caught in a volley of rainbow-colored energy streams which were spinning around the new figure that was forming. Suddenly, moon managed to break through the darkness of Witch-king's wizardry, and beamed at the place of a new digimon emerging.

The darkness across the battlefield was breaking, and that was met with hateful growling from the enemy positions and with happy cheers from the city. Everyone present was watching in amazement as from that sphere a new digimon arrived gracefully – it was looking like a woman in golden armor with a magical wand.

"Holy joke…" the officer mumbled along with his soldiers, who managed to recover. Fellow digimon also stared at this all with amazement also, even though they have seen it more than once. The Witch-king turned to face whatever was his new nemesis.

"Ahh, that feels better … although … Is it me or we are … shorter?" Rika, who was now inside the digital sphere, asked, as she noticed that Sakuiamon was about the same height as their dark opponent, who was standing with his two-handed sword ready.

"Yes, and our power diminished as well. I am surprised we managed to do it, since in this world there is no network to replenish our power and maintain our existence… Hopefully, it will be enough…" the voice outside the sphere replied.

… Two enemies stalked each other for several brief moments. They were like observing each other. If Sakuiamon was representing both grace and power, and light, her opponent was an image of darkness ready to crush any opposition.

Witch - king lend his hand forward to the enemy, and a ball of dark energy appeared in is hand. Before Sakuiamon could react, the dark wizard launched five streams of energy at her, but she managed to deflect them with her staff easily. Seeing that his attack failed, the Nazgul charged at his opponent, with speed that could have rivaled even Sakuiamon's. The attacker was approaching too fast, not allowing the digimon to cast one of her own spells to obliterate the enemy. They clashed with their melee weapons, and stood like this for some time, trying to overpower one another.

The remaining troops watched this battle in silence, as their commander stood up from the ground and wanted to try helping their mighty ally somehow, yet he was unsure how to do it.

"No! Take the others out of here!" Sakuiamon ordered as she still tried to push away the Witch-king.

"But we…" the commander replied in hesitation, as he made a step forward, having in mind to stab the dark enemy from behind.

"Just do it!" Sakuiamon almost screamed.

"Yes, ma'am." The commander replied without hesitation this time, as his men picked up the unconscious boys and left in haste.

"We will help you Sakuiamon!" both Terriermon and Guilmon said as they launched their attacks in th back of the Witch-king. Their attacks stopped in mid-way from the target, and suddenly flew back at those who launched them. The red dinosaur and the green rabbit barely managed to evade their own attacks.

"Go away! You will only become a target!" Sakuiamon screamed as she gathered all of her strength and pushed the sword-wielding enemy away from her, sending the Nazgul flying against the wall and hitting it. As Witch-king fell to the ground, Sakuiamon jumped in the air.

"Amethyst wind!" she screamed as she summoned a magical wind full of crystalline shards, which were able to tare enemies apart, and launched it at Murazor.

The Witch-king reacted adequately. He encapsulated himself in a strange sort of black crystal, which deflected all he shards with ease. Where he stood, now was a black octahedron. Sakuiamon launched a couple of more attacks against it, but to no effect. The crystal deflected all of her attempts. She stopped wasting her energy, and waited for something to happen. A couple of minutes passed, but nothing happened. In curiosity, Sakuiamon approached the crystal. Still nothing happened. She touched it with her staff, but the crystal refused to react.

"Hmm…" she exclaimed in amazement as she slammed the crystal with force. She regret that decision just as immediately, as the crystal exploited, sending its matter as shrapnel in all directions. Sakuiamon managed to evade the blast, but a couple of crystal shards managed to inflict minor cuts.

She looked around but saw no enemy. The Witch-king just vanished, disappeared into thin air.

"Where is he?" Sakuiamon asked herself, when she suddenly felt a presence right behind her. She turned around, only to witness the ugly helmet right in front of her. Before the golden digimon could react, the Nazgul shot two straight beams of light from his eyes right into hers.

Both Rika and Renamon snapped out, as blinding pain clouded their minds…

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Well that's it. Next chapter will be ready soon, I hope.


	12. Favor

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 12 – Favor.

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Another chapter ready. I want to say thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing my story so far. GhostKing666, you are quite right about the whole blue card thing, I guess that was another error of mine, but it's too late to correct it now, I guess. I'll just make sure not to commit it again when I will write another story. Oh, and thanks about spotting errors! It is very important for me to know my mistakes.

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… Several moments later, both Rika and Renamon opened their eyes at the same time. What they saw amazed them quite a bit, and not in a bad way. They have found themselves on a flourishing meadow, under a beautiful cherry tree in blossom. The sun above them was shining brightly, and the air was warm, not stuffy or hot, just warm. Countless flowers of different types and colors were filling the air with pleasant scent, making the stay on this meadow of dreams even more enjoyable.

"Whoa! Where are we? Heaven?" Rika asked as she looked around. There was no one else here besides her digimon, who was still shrugging off the sleepiness. She looked at herself and noticed that she was wearing the same clothes she would wear if she was back at Shinjuku - a yellow-turtle necked T-shirt with an intact heart on the front, with short button-fly blue jeans, red wrist bands, red steel-toed sneakers, and buckles around her waist and leg.

"If we are dead, then – yes. The last thing I remember was the Witch-king getting behind us, after that – all blurry…" Renamon replied slowly, as if she was not sure if she was right.

"Dead… DEAD?! What do you mean DEAD? We lost that fight? Oh no…" Rika mumbled as she sat on the ground. A series of brief flashes went through her mind: Minas Tirith in flames, orcs marching in, pillaging and burning down everything they saw, and on the part of the wall – bodies. Many bodies … and among them … their own bodies – hers and Renamon's. Rika shook her head to make the vision go away.

"We … we have failed. All who were counting on us … are doomed." She said with bitterness.

"Rika… I only guessed that we died. I might be wrong and we actually might have been teleported somewhere else or something… Maybe we're not dead at all!" Renamon tried to cheer her tamer up. It had some effect.

"Do you … really think so?" Rika asked with trembling in her voice.

"Of course. Remember that we are talking about magic over here. At this point Shinjuku could drop out of the sky and I wouldn't bat an eyelash." Renamon tried to joke yet joking never was her thing.

"Uh, I guess you're right. Anyways, we should be trying to find a way out of this mess, despite how beautiful this place might be. Ugh… What's that?" Rika suddenly inquired as she turned her head to a certain direction. They didn't notice it before, being overwhelmed by past events and by the beauty of the place they were in.

In the center of that flourishing meadow there was … a graveyard. No flower or other plant grew on those scorched grounds. It looked like the Sun never shone above these lands, covered with old, crippled gravestones, which obviously went without proper care for a very long time. In the center of that unpleasant and depressing picture there was an old building, which looked much like a catholic chapel.

It didn't have a cross on its top, the windows were broken, and it looked abandoned. Its walls were covered by remains of what once was a grape-vine. That was the only reminder of life that once flickered in this place of death. The vast grave stood like a dark sentinel in this ocean of flowers, and was like an intervention, something that was out of place. Suddenly, Renamon and her tamer saw a weak light coming out of the broken window of the chapel. It blinked a couple of times before disappearing again.

"There was light in that building. My only guess is that someone is there. We'd better go and check it out, maybe this person knows where we are." Renamon proposed.

"Why do we have to go there? What if we go there and some zombies, or skeletons, or ghosts, or anything else will jump at us? Let's stay here where it's safe." Rika replied somewhat hesitantly. Renamon raised an eyebrow when she heard that.

"I didn't know you were a fan of cheap old horror movies… Don't be silly, there are no such things as walking skeletons and zombies!" Renamon replied kindly, while trying to hold a chuckle. She found it a bit funny that her tamer became scared of such a trivial thread.

"Remembered that we're talking about magic over here…" Rika used her digimon's own words against her.

"Alright, how about I will go and check it out, and you will stay here where it's safe?" Renamon said and went towards the graveyard they saw. Almost as soon as she did this, she heard fast steps gaining on her. Rika. She should have known.

"Changed your mind?" Renamon inquired with a bit of irony.

"Yeah, I though that it would be bad if you'll get in trouble and I wouldn't be around to bail you out. And besides, if there are some undead out there, I'm sure we will find a way to beat them." Rika replied.

"Yes. After all, we are partners." Renamon said and smiled as they went closer to the dark place…

…They walked for a couple of hours until they finally managed to reach the outer gates of the resting place of so many people, which now, obviously, laid forgotten. The road that seemed short at first suddenly stretched out to be rather long. The air, which was so pleasant and refreshing, suddenly became so stuffy that it was not possible to breathe normally. The sun which was emanating such a warm light suddenly became as hot as in a desert. The flowers' bloom ended up in a cloud of pollen, which made breathing even more difficult and made both Rika and Renamon cough all the way to the place.

When they finally reached the abandoned graveyard, a strong wind strike opened the rusty gates before them. Slowly, they have opened with a nasty creek, which made both of our heroes shiver.

"Almost like if someone is expecting us…" Renamon commented.

"Yes… C'mon, let's go." Rika replied and lead the way. The chapel was situated on a hill of some sort, and a narrow trail that moved here and there among the gravestones was the only path to it. Here they have encountered the same thing they went through on their way here: a walk that should have taken only five minutes got stretched for a half of an hour.

The place was not looking hospitable. Everything looked so very grey, hopeless and devoid of life. The other thing Rika and her digimon noticed there were … crows. There were a lot of crows, on the stones, on the fences, everywhere. They looked at the newcomers with their shining little eyes, but didn't appear to be scared of them.

"I don't like how these birds are looking at us…" Rika muttered.

"I can destroy them, if you like." Renamon proposed.

"Leave it. There's better sport than this one." Rika replied shortly, cooling off Renamon's violent intentions. They walked further up the trail, which seemed endless. They started to notice that further they went, the more crows were appearing. Eventually, they found themselves surrounded by thousand of crows.

"Looks like we're surrounded… By birds." Rika said with a bit of laugh, but before Renamon said anything in reply, suddenly, all that horde of birds, with dreadful croaking, lifted into the air at once, and that scared and confused both our heroes pretty much.

"It's like something scared them away…" Renamon said as the birds finally flew away.

"Stupid crows." Rika replied as they moved further up the hill…

…The walk up-hill was much more difficult than they both have though it would. Still weary after a two-hour torture they came through just to make it to this place this climb was truly debilitating. At least there were no more crows on their way, but that was more than compensated by a strong wind that was blowing down the hill.

The wind was chilling to the bone and was freezing blood in the veins, though it was unknown why it was so cold. This wind was making Rika shiver, yet she tried not to show it. Not that her attempts escaped from Renamon's ever-vigilant eyes though.

"Are you cold?" she inquired mildly.

"No I'm not." Rika replied a bit harshly as they went on. But the next gust of wind managed to break her will not to shiver, as she started to shiver and her teeth wee clattering.

"You are cold. You shiver like a leaf." Renamon said with worry.

"S… so? It's not like you can offer me a blanket or a jacket or anything…" Rika replied, but stopped as Renamon approached her close enough to keep her warm. It did look like a hug, yet Rika never truly believed Renamon would allow herself to do such thing.

"Thanks, Rena. You are very warm." Rika replied rather cheerfully as they both went further.

"You're welcome." Renamon replied softly. "Humans are so fragile… Especially children…" such a thought came through her mind…

…Together they managed to struggle against the strong and chilling wind that was trying to stop them from advancing to the chapel. In the end, after quite a long way, they managed to get to the doors of the structure. These were massive old doors, with an iron knock on them. Rika used it to knock at the door three times. After she did it, the door opened by itself, with a creek. It was dark inside, but at the end of a long corridor there was a table, with a spark plug burning.

"Apparently, this was left by the one who was there earlier. I wonder if he, or she, is still here…" Renamon said thoughtfully as she picked up one of the torches from the floor and lighted it up with the fire of the spark plug.

"I hope so, otherwise our whole trip here would be proved useless…" Rika replied when suddenly, a powerful gust of wind closed the door behind them. The spark plug was extinguished, and the fire of the torch would have been gone too, if Renamon wouldn't have hid it from the wind with her back.

"We're trapped…" she said, when, suddenly a strange voice was heard:

"Welcome!" the voice echoed in the surroundings, and it was not possible to understand which direction it was coming from. The voice was loud, strong, and somewhat harsh. After that, heavy steps with metallic clanking were heard, and, from behind one of the columns, a stranger appeared. They never saw him before. He looked old, his face had wrinkles, as well as old scars, but despite all that his body was not weak and ill, like most old people had. The stranger was walking straight, and was very tall. His hair and beard were white, yet short. He wore a chain mail, a crown, and bore a sword.

"I was expecting you." The stranger added, with a bit milder intonation, yet his voice was still dry and strict.

"Hnh, if you were, why have you given us so many troubles on our way here? I assume that the crows, the wind, and time shifting is your doing." Renamon asked with a bit of irony.

"This is my way of doing things. But you managed to get here after all. Please, take a seat." The stranger replied, and, out of thin air, two chairs and a table appeared. Suddenly, all the torches on the walls that were extinguished for a long time suddenly were caught in flames again, lighting up the whole room.

"Thanks. My legs ache from that "delightful" walk we had here. So anyway, who are you?" Rika inquired as she sat on the chair proposed to her. Renamon, on the other hand, kept standing on her feet, and throw suspicious glares towards the stranger and the chair.

"You do not recognize me? Ha-ha, of course you don't, not with how I look. We have encountered several times before. Perhaps you would remember me looking … like this?" the stranger said and, by his whim, out if thin air an image, a mirage formed: Tall, in a dark cloak, wearing black armor, and a crown-like helmet with nothing but darkness under it… Armed with a two-handed sword…

"YOU!" Rika exclaimed as she stood up from her chair. Renamon, on the other hand, didn't say anything, she darted to the stranger and attempted to hit him with her fist … only to witness her fist going through his body like through mist, without encountering any resistance.

"Fortunately for me, you cannot touch me here, so your efforts on harming me here are useless, but, unlike you, I can." The stranger replied as he grabbed her fist which still was "in his stomach", and pulled it out with force. Seeing that this was not worth the effort, Renamon backed away, and sat on her chair.

"So, what for have you brought us here, and what is this place?" she asked calmly.

"This place… It could be called a reflection of my inner world, so to speak, just like the flourishing meadow outside this place represents yours. And I have brought you here, because I want to ask you … a favor." Er-Murazor said, to much surprise of whom he was speaking to.

"A favor? Why would we do a favor for an enemy?" Rika asked in amazement.

"Because doing so will fulfill both your goals and mine. I think you will find my proposition hard to resist. I want you … to end me, because if you don't, I will end you, this city, all of your friends, and the rest of free Middle-Earth." The Witch-king's voice sounded threatening, yet it was his request that shocked both Rika and her digimon.

"You want us … to kill you? B… but why would someone want to die?" she asked a bit unsure. That was because now she was not seeing a horrible dark menace who sought death of all living things before her. She saw … just an old man. The Witch-king looked at her with a bit of sadness and sighed:

"When you fight the Nazgul, never mistake us for a living thing, because this doubting will only weaken you. We are already dead, it is just a matter of how many we will slay before we actually fall."

"You didn't answer the question." Renamon said from her place in an unwavering intonation. That remark made Murazor sigh again.

"Very well, if you are so anxious to know. As you might know, we, the Nazgul, are considered most faithful servants of Sauron. Ever wondered why we always do his bidding without hesitation, or mercy?" he asked.

"Because he can control you." Renamon replied. She remembered her talk with Gandalf on this issue before.

"That is right…" Murazor replied, and by his whim the mirage of the Witch-king of Angmar disappeared, but instead a smaller one appeared at the table. It drew attention of our heroes.

"We are like strain puppets…" the witch-king said as from his hand strings appeared and connected with arms and legs of the little image of himself on the table.

"We move whenever our master wishes us to move, and we do whatever he wishes us to do. Against our sense, and against our will. But the time has come when a puppet decides to cut the strings, even if it will mean destruction…" with these words a pair of scissors appeared out of his hand, and he cut the strings. The mirage disappeared.

"Despite that I'm more than 1000 years old and that most of my "life" I spent as the Dark Lord's right hand, I still remember everything when I lived my life as a … human. I think Sauron let us keep those memories so that we would suffer more, remembering what we have lost for eternity, but it backfired, giving us the strength to resist, to defy him for so very long. I've had mine fair share of killing … men, women, children… I remember that I fought for the glory of mankind, for triumph of the light against the darkness. I don't want all that to fall by my hand… That is why I ask you … I beg you, please, do what I ask you to do." Murazor said heavily after finishing his revelation.

"But … why us? Of all people…" Rika asked.

"It is because of the prophesy…" the Witch-king replied.

"Far off yet lies his doom, and not by a hand of a man will he fall…" Renamon remember and said the prophesy.

"Yes, you are right. How did you know?" he asked in a bit of amazement.

"The white wizard told me. He also told me he is stronger than you." Renamon replied a bit slyly. This comment managed to bring a slight smile on Murazor's face.

"He didn't lie. His power can be equal to my master's. But he cannot use it, and keep his human form. Alike my master, Mithrandir, or Olorin, to be called correctly, is a maiar, a demi-god. But ever since they swore never to use their full powers in Middle-Earth, and cowardly retreated to Valinor, no one is strong enough to stand my master, and Gandalf cannot stand against me, because if my master will desire, he will channel his full power through me. And besides, Olorin knows the prophesy too."

"We can't do anything if we are trapped here though…" Renamon said a bit casually.

"Trapped? No, you are not trapped. This all is going inside your head, and what you see, is the reflection of souls, both mine and yours. This is how my soul looks like." Murazor replied, referring to his appearance.

"You are lying. We, digimon, don't have souls. We are not living things in a normal understanding of that word…" Renamon replied calmly. This resulted in a smirk from Murazor's part.

"I never ever met anyone who would say that she doesn't have a soul with such calmness. However, if you truly believe that, I must inform you that you are wrong. This magic technique that I used to get you here, it was designed at first to destroy one's soul, and leave nothing but an empty shell under my control." The Witch-king replied. This revelation was pretty much of a shock too.

"You… you can do that?" Rika asked, being frightened a bit.

"Yes… There are various techniques in dark wizardry, but most of them are used to damage mind or the body. But body can be protected by armor and mind – by strength of will or a magical amulet. But the most dangerous spells target neither body nor mind, they target the soul…" Murazor replied, and two images appeared near him… This time … images resembled both Rika and Renamon perfectly.

"A person can train a body or mind, but the soul – that is what a person cannot train…" when he said that, a glow appeared on both images at the place where heart should be. Both glows, Rika's and Renamon's, had a blue color. The Witch-king took that glow in his hands.

"Against such spells, even a strong warrior is as defenseless as a little child… Against such powers there is no defense…" Murazor said and crushed both lights in his hands, and with it two images fell to the ground, "dead", and disappeared.

"You're … you're horrible!" Rika managed to squeeze out of herself.

"Yes, and that is why I should leave this world forever. When I will release you from here and we will return to our battle, I will concentrate my will enough to overpower my master's, fortunately he is not controlling me to the extend of his powers, and I will make a mistake. That would be enough for you to send me into oblivion…" the Witch-king said a bit sadly, when suddenly, the ground beneath them started to shake. A very strong wind came out of nowhere and blew out all of the torches. Then, from everywhere, a horrible evil laughter was heard:

"Mvahahahahahaha!" This laughter was chilling to the bone, and both Rika and Renamon turned her heads to Murazor, but he looked just as surprised as they were.

"What is happening?" Rika tried to outshout the rumbling of the earth.

"I don't know… It couldn't have …" Murazor replied.

"OH YES IT COULD! MVAHAHAHAHA!" and with this laughter, in the center of the room, a flaming fireball appeared. It grew and grew, until it gained a form … of a flaming eye.

"Master…" the Witch-king sounded defeated.

"What a touching conversation, I never knew you had all this within you. Mvahahaha. I knew you always were a defiant one, but I never expected you to be facing death twice only to break free from my servitude… Was this your idea alone, or did the other eight take part in this as well?" the Flaming Eye said mockingly, and its deep voice was creating a horrible echo. Rika and Renamon were watching this, petrified. They understood everything. The Dark Lord, Sauron, was right before them.

"The others have nothing to do with it! The idea was mine alone!" The Witch-king screamed. It was obvious he was lying, and that he wanted to protect his brothers from severe punishment.

"We shall see if what you are saying is true, if not, their punishment will be far more severe than you could possibly imagine… Is this who is you false hope you cling to? Pathetic worms. Is it freedom you desire so much, you would dare to risk everything, knowing what would be the punishment for defying me? Well, willing obedience always beats forced obedience. I propose you a deal. Keep commanding my forces, destroy Minas Tirith, drown Middle Earth in blood of all who oppose me, and in the end I will grant you death you desire so much." Sauron proposed. His offer was very tempting, it was seen by the looks on Murazor's eyes, but in the end, the Witch-king replied:

"I once have made a mistake of trusting the king of deceit. I will not make the same mistake twice." This reply seemed to have angered the dark lord very much, as the fires of his flaming eye started to burn brighter.

"Then I shall break you… Once and for all… And I will start with … forcing you to kill your hopes with your very own hand…" the eye said and disappeared, and the earth-quake started to destroy the building.

"Quickly, through the portal! It will return you to our reality! Hurry, before the entire building collapses on you!" Murazor screamed as he opened a portal, and Rika and Renamon managed to get in it before the ceiling collapsed to the ground…

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Well, that's it. Next chapter will be ready soon. Hoped you liked this one. If you did, or if you spotted a flaw I didn't see, you can inform me of that through a review =)


	13. Wrath of Sauron

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 13 – Wrath of Sauron.

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I continue this story…

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… What remained of the detachment commander lead to execute orders to defend their new allies, now was going somewhere to safety, they had many wounded on their hands. Witch-king's screech was able to kill or incapacitate almost a half of the entire squad. On their hands there were also two boys – Takato and Henry, who were rendered unconscious also.

Two digimon with their heads still very dizzy from that sonic attack were following close behind. When the squad leader decided that they are far away enough from danger, he ordered everybody to stop.

"Halt, take five, men. Private, go and find a medic immediately. He will take care of the incapacitated." The commander ordered and one of the soldiers ran away executing orders, while the others sat on the ground to recuperate. One of the soldiers checked out the pulse of both kids.

"Are they … alive?" Terriermon asked slowly. He was both eager and afraid to hear the answer.

"Yep, they are. Either they're very strong-willed, or incredibly lucky, or both. We lost half of our men to only one scream, but those guys lived through two of them and still live…" the soldier replied.

"I will go seek out Mithrandir, we will need his help if we are to fight this thread somehow. You stay here until further notice." The commander said and left also. The rest of the soldiers and the digimon stayed and waited, as they were ordered…

… With a flash of light both sight and consciousness were returned to Sakuiamon, as soon as that happened, she found herself flying against the wall, and barely managed to stop her body from hitting it. The whole thing inside her head took less than a second, and the first thing she saw as she raised her eyes to the sky was – darkness. It cloaked the moon once again, only this time it looked thicker, more sinister. And having this as a background, in the air her enemy levitated, lightened by a ghastly-white aura around him.

Suddenly, two more flashes pierced the darkness. Two straight beams from somewhere far away were seen once more. One of them was white just like the aura around Witch-king, and came from Minas Morgul, while the other was of orange-red color, like lava, and was coming from behind the mountains that surrounded Mordor. These beams of energy didn't disappear in the air, they suddenly changed their direction and with great speed went flying to Minas Tirith.

The light show managed to stop even the battle below, as both orcs and soldiers of Gondor stopped fighting, being shocked and amazed by what they just saw. Their eyes were now focused on the events happening above them. The streams of energy started to swirl around Witch-king, encapsulating him in a vortex of some sort, which looked both so beautiful and powerful at the same time.

Then, suddenly, a dreadful and awfully loud scream came out from inside the vortex. It was full of pain and anger, but it was not a screech of a Nazgul, not language of death. It was a scream of a human, it was not empowered by dark energy to instill fear, but even without that it sounded terrifying and tortured.

"Rika, I'm afraid we will have to fight whatever will emerge from that vortex alone, and we will have to kill it. Prepare yourself." Renamon's voice was heard inside the digital sphere Rika was in.

"I know. I am ready. But still…" Rika replied, when suddenly the whole energy vortex began to disappear, sucked inside the body inside it. The Witch-king looked different as he emerged from inside, absorbing both energy streams inside himself. His helmet was shattered, and only a circle of scrapped metal was around his "head", like a head-band. There was no darkness, as the hood was shattered also. He had nothing as a head in particular, but two burning eyes were clearly visible, their fires contrasted with blackness of the moonless night.

Sakuiamon barely got to a defense stance when suddenly her nemesis disappeared into thin air and reappeared right in front of her. She barely managed to block ferocious blows with her staff as she retreated back. Every blow was meant to cut away a limb or two and was made with such power that it almost beat the staff out of the digimon's hands several times.

"Renamon, we cannot retreat forever." Rika said inside her sphere.

"I know." Renamon's voice replied, and the next moment Sakuiamon meant the incoming blow with stiff resistance, forcing the attack to a standstill. They faced each other eye – to – eye for a moment and, before you know it, Witch-king set up his sword in flames, making Sakuiamon push the attacker away in reflex. The next moment the dark opponent continued his onslaught, and made a devastating blow that was supposed to cut Sakuiamon in two pieces. At the last moment she got her wand in the way of burning blade, for there too late to evade the attack.

This stopped the blow, but the wand was cut in two. But the Witch-king didn't expect her weapon to be destroyed so easily, and was not prepared for it, and that gave Sakuiamon enough time to fly away from her opponent at the time.

"Let's try this… Amethyst Mandala!" she exclaimed as she managed to cast a spell upon her enemy without her staff. A ring of golden energy appeared around Witch-King and started to decrease in size, threatening to crush its target. The Witch-king didn't reply anything, but from his back, one by one, eight "arms" of dark energy appeared, making him look as some wicked spider from afar. These "arms" tore the ring apart in a second, and the next moment Sakuiamon had to evade all 8 of them at once, as they tried to grab her…

…As the battle in the air continued, below, relatively safe from destruction of the battle of the gods, a medic finally managed to get through to wounded troops of the squad of citadel guards. One of the soldiers redirected the medic to children, saying that they must be helped first. Without any words medic dipped a piece of cloth in a strange mixture with a strong smell and brought it to the noses of both kids. In a second, they both woke up, coughing.

"Great, you're awake. Now get up and go help your friend who's taking the Witch-king on her own up there!" the doctor said quickly as he went to attend others. Both boys looked up in the air, and witnessed Sakuiamon fighting, but most often, fleeing, from the Witch-king, or whatever it was now.

"Hey, Rika managed to biomerge with her digimon! Maybe we will be able to do so with our digimon as well!" Henry exclaimed as he watched the fearsome battle in the air.

"Please, please, pretty please, D-Power, please, allow us to biomerge…" Takato was saying his prayers, holding his D-Power in front of his face, but the damn thing remained blank. The battle above was growing fiercer by the minute, and Sakuiamon was not winning.

"C'mon, work I'm begging you! We must help our friend!" Takato almost cried as he saw Sakuiamon being smashed against a tower with such force that the whole building collapsed. As Takato watched from afar Sakuiamon trying to get up from under the pile of rubble, a single tear appeared at his eye, as he saw his friends fighting for their lives and was powerless to do anything. The tear fell on the D-Power, which was held in his hand, and, suddenly, it began to glow. A moment after that Henry's D-Power began to glow as well.

"I don't know what you did Takato, but it worked!" Henry exclaimed in amazement.

"Biomerge activate!" they both shouted, as they were both encapsulated in spheres of yellow and green light. Inside, they and their digimon became one, and the next moment, from inside the spheres, two new digimon emerged. One, in heavy knight-like armor, armed with a spear and a big round shield, with a crimson-red cloak twisting in the wind behind him. The other, looked more like a machine, a transformer, with two large barrel guns on his hands. And although they were only one head higher than soldiers, those creatures still looked impressive. The soldiers awed in amazement, and stood up from the ground, as the newly-emerged digimon were about to go and join the fight.

"Good luck, sirs. We are counting on you. You must succeed where у have failed." The sergeant said and the whole squad raised their right hands in a military salute. The digimon replied to them with the same, and left for the battlefield…

…Meanwhile, below, the fighting began again. Soldiers of Gondor retreated to narrow alleys, where trolls could not reach them, and were fighting against Morgul orcs, who tried to break through the lines. The enemy's efforts here were useless, however, as it was impossible to break through a wall of shields with spears, swords and other sharp objects sticking out of it. Gandalf was busy coordinating the defense, as the trolls were destroying the buildings to allow more orcs to pass to fight, when, with bated breath, Ristor approached him, and said:

"Mithrandir, sir. We need your assistance…" and took a deep breath.

"I thought I ordered you to protect our allies! What are you doing here?" Gandalf asked strictly.

"And so we did, until we were ordered to retreat with the wounded. We need your help! My troops are no match for the Witch-king's firepower! There was nothing we could have done!" the commander exclaimed.

"Alright, I will go and will do everything to thwart our enemy…" the white wizard said as he got up on his Shadowfax and was about to ride to battle as well.

"I will remain here and coordinate our forces." He commander replied, but that reply forced Gandalf to stop.

"No, commander. Take some more of your troops and lead them to battle that goes above ." He said heavily.

"What difference would we make in that battle? We would be squashed like bugs!" the commander exclaimed harshly. He was not afraid for his life, but for life of his men.

"You might make a difference. True, you cannot hope to triumph against this enemy relying of mere strength of arms, but you might attract the enemy's attention on yourself, and in such battles every second, every distraction counts. Now gather your men and follow your orders!" the white wizard replied and left, riding his white steed.

"I obey my orders. Men! Get some crossbows out of that weapons pile and follow me! For Gondor!" he shouted to a squad of citadel guards that just arrived from the other flank of the defense to support the effort here. They obeyed that command, threw away their shields and pikes, replacing them with crossbows, and soon were running behind their leader to the place above which the battle was fought…

…It was a complete surprise to both Sakuiamon and Witch-king that Gallantmon and MegaGargomon suddenly appeared out of nowhere to join the battle. MegaGargomon unleashed a powerful wave of various projectiles at the enemy, and it was extremely difficult for Witch-king to defend against them, so he used four of his "hands" to create a shield that absorbed all of the attacks and launched it back at MegaGargomon, making him run for cover.

Witch-king was about to redirect his attention on Sakuiamon again, who was fatigued and weary from fighting on her own for such a long time, when suddenly the barrier he had created to defend himself against MegaGargomon was pierced by Gallantmon, who came through it like knife through butter, with his spear aiming right at Witch-king. He managed to dodge the spear, only to be hit with force by Gallantmon's shield of Aegis and was sent bashing into the ground.

"He is down! Don't let him rise up again! Dragon helix!" Sakuiamon screamed as she summoned 4 mystical foxes that were imbued with the powers of fire, water, wind and lightning, and they have unleashed their powerful attacks against the place where Witch-king fell.

"Final Elysium!" Gallantmon exclaimed as a powerful beam of white energy was released from his shield at the target.

"Hey don't forget me! Gargo Missiles mvahahah!" MegaGargomon added and launched two large missiles from his launchers. The whole place exploded, and was covered by a cloud of dust, from which there was nothing seen.

"Did we make it?" Gallantmon asked a bit impatiently as the cloud of war was clearing up.

"I sure hope so…" Sakuiamon replied, but, to their disappointment, when the dust cleared out, all they saw was … a black octahedron crystal in place of where Witch-king should have been.

"Damn, it seems he is invincible when he is within that thing. Don't come too close, or it will explode and hurt you with shards." Sakuiamon warned her comrades, and the next moment the crystal exploded, but Gallantmon hid behind his shield in time, Sakuiamon evaded the projectiles and MagaGargomon just stood still as shards ricocheted from his armor. When the cloud from the explosion disappeared, they saw their nemesis standing tall, without a scratch.

"Damn that bastard is difficult to kill." MegaGargomon said as he, Sakuiamon, 4 summoned spirit foxes, and Gallantmon stood against one opponent, and that one made them all tremble.

"I am tired of this game." The Witch-king said with a rather low voice, which was unusual, since he usually hissed, and by a movement of his hand a and whim of his will, out of thin air an army of black human-like figures appeared. They filled the entire place and were outnumbering their master's opponents greatly now.

"Charge." Witch-king ordered and with screech that resembled one of many bats, the figures swarmed the digimon. They were attacking Gallantmon, MegaGargomon and four spirits summoned by Sakuiamon, and even more appeared from behind to join the fight. Sakuiamon flied away from the minions of darkness, but she, apparently, was not their target to begin with.

The Witch-king levitated in the air right before her. Apparently, he ordered his faceless minions to keep the other two digimon busy while he could take her on close and personal. Before Sakuiamon could launch another magical attack, her opponent already got close enough with frightening speed, and slashed her with his flaming sword. At the last moment she managed to turn her body to receive the blow with her armor, and only that thing saved her life, but she was sent flying to the ground in flames.

That attack didn't terminate Sakuiamon, but her powers were not limitless, and the Witch-king was not a noble and foolish knight to allow his enemy to stand up from the ground. Sakuiamon barely managed to react when from the skies her nemesis came like thunder, with his sword aiming at her heart. She had no weapon to deflect the blow, and no time to evade it, so she stopped the cutting edge of the Morgul blade with her own hands.

The burning blade was arcing Sakuiamon's hands, and she was barely managing to hold back the blade which was guided by a merciless hand. The burning in her hands was unbearable to hold for much longer, so Sakuiamon hissed tried to break the sword with her hands. Her efforts proved in vane, the cursed blade didn't break, it only cut deeper inside her hands, and came for an inch closer to its target.

"Hold on! We're coming!" Gallantmon screamed as he dispatched one enemy after another, but when one of the black minions fell, ten more rose up to take it's place. They were not able to cut through in time.

"Time to die…" the Witch-king said as he pushed the blade slowly, enjoying the pain of his helpless foe. As there was one more push before the blade would find its way to the heart, from the nearest corridor, Ristor finally arrived with a new squad of crossbowmen.

"Fire at will men!" he ordered and shot his arrow first, followed by dozens of other crossbow bolts. The arrows did no damage to the mighty Witch-king, they burned down to ashes half of the way to their target. But this was enough to thwart the Nazgul's concentration at the last moment, and Sakuiamon managed to twitch the blade a bit, so it pierced the shoulder. And Sakuiamon screamed … probably for the first time in such a way, as the fiery sword went through her.

And that scream, full of pain and rage, made an effect on one of the digimon on the battlefield.

"Damn you to hell! I'm coming! Final Elysium!" Gallantmon screamed as he launched his attack to clear a way for him and purge the enemies around, and the next moment he was clashing weapons with the scourge of Sauron. The swarm of minions went after Gallantmon, but found an obstacle in face of MagaGargomon.

"I'll hold them off! You take care of him!" he screamed to Gallantmon as he devastated the countless ranks of the enemy's minions with his guns. Gallantmon was attacking with rage, striking the opponent with his spear, and cutting off the "arms" that were trying to get a grip on him…

… As Gallantmon managed to drive his evil nemesis away, Sakuiamon tried to stand up. Her wound was bringing her much pain, and only strength of will of both Rika and Renamon kept her going. But when she was about to fall on the ground, she felt being supported by shoulders of two soldiers who recently arrived.

"Come, we will carry you to safety." One of them said quickly as they rushed and hid in the corridor they arrived from. The others from the squad hid there also.

"Here we will not be such a visible target… Medic! Get over here!" the commander ordered, but Sakuiamon stopped him with a jest.

"He won't help. There is no blood." She said as she took her arm away from the wound. There was no blood, but the wound was glowing with light and blue particles were dispatching from it. She concentrated on the wound for a minute, and the particles stopped disappearing.

"What kind of sorcery is this…" a whisper went through the ranks of soldiers.

"It doesn't matter. My staff was destroyed in battle. I need a weapon." Sakuiamon said with beaten voice, and one of the soldiers took his sword out of his scabbards, and passed it to her.

"Take this one. It was made specially for fighting such things…" he said. Sakuiamon nodded, took the sword, and left to battle, still wounded, but willing to fight.

"When she will return the sword, I'll buy it from you. 600 golden coins." The commander said.

"Deal!" the soldier replied as all of them reloaded their crossbows and left out from their hideout, to make a small difference in the outcome of the battle…

…Sakuiamon returned to battle just in time to turn the tide of it. The Witch-king managed to live through the raging onslaught of Gallantmon, and was forcing the digimon back. Gallantmon already had several scars on his armor made by the enemy. Even with a shield, he was not able to beat his dark opponent in fencing, as the Witch-king had a thousand years to practice it and had impressive experience. She appeared from behind the enemy, and, while her summoned foxes were keeping the tentacles a bay, managed to deliver a slashing blow with her sword to the enemy.

Witch-king's armor defended him well, the blow didn't go through, but it made the Witch-king hiss in anger and make distance between him and both attackers. They stalked each other down for the second time, and MagaGargomon, who finished dealing with the rest of the minions, joined them.

"Murazor! I know you hear me! Fight your master's will!" Sakuiamon shouted loudly, towards the amazement of her companions.

"What are you talking about?" MagaGargomon asked, but Sakuiamon's plea managed to get her nemesis confused for a second. He regained his evil composure quickly though.

"I send my scourge, I send my sword, thus said my Lord!" he hissed and launched all of his "arms" at once with doubled strength, in order to decimate his enemies. Before the digimon could overpower the tentacles, Witch-king launched a volley of black fireballs from his hands, which exploded with terrible power, leaving devastation below. All attacks digimon launched met an impregnable wall of dark energy.

"Damn, he is too powerful! I wonder how much longer we can hold off his offence…" Gallantmon said while wheezing heavily. Sakuiamon didn't reply anything, but was holding to her shoulder again. The wound was not making it easier. But then, suddenly, Witch-king stopped his assaults.

"My master wants your lives … extinguished … now." He said bitterly, and clashed his hands together in a way monks do when praying, and started some strange enchantment.

"What … what is he doing?" MagaGargomon asked, but before anyone could reply, the digimon felt paralyzed by an unknown force, and strange symbol started to appear around them.

"What's … happening? I … can't … move…" Gallantmon hissed as he tried to overpower the spell, but in vane. "There are techniques in dark wizardry, against which there is no defense, they target and destroy the soul itself…" such a though came through both Rika and Renamon, whose essence felt the destructive power of the spell.

"We … are … doomed…" Sakuiamon managed to hiss back.

"I'm … sorry…" Witch-king hissed in return as he was about to finish casting the spell, and destroy his opponents completely and utterly. At that last moment, when darkness was about to triumph over the light, suddenly, a beam of light energy came from below and hit the Nazgul right where his head should be. He screamed in pain as he covered his eyes with his arms and fell to the ground like a shot duck. It was Gnadalf who launched the beam, he arrived at the last moment.

"Quickly, before he recovers, slay him!" the white wizard screamed to Sakuiamon, who managed to shake off the bonds of a broken spell faster then the others. From above she saw her enemy rising up again, relying on his sword, and she knew what must be done. Faster than lighting she darted below, and without hesitation struck the Witch-king right in his heart, or at least where it should have been, through the chest plate.

The explosion that followed shattered the sword, and send Sakuiamon flying against the wall. A powerful lightning struck, followed by a loud thunder. With a scream which contained thousands of screams of tortured souls that fed his power, two streams of energy, which empowered him, left his body, leaving large holes in the armor, and fled back where they came from, leaving the shell they were encapsulated in.

Gallantmon, MagaGargomon and Gandalf approached Sakuiamon and helped her stand up, and after that redirected their attention at the defeated enemy. The Witch-king was still alive, if he could have been called alive, but he was dying. His pride was forcing him to stand up, relying on his sword, yet strength was leaving him.

"I … am defeated … Even with master's power … Perhaps there is … hope for the world of Men … after all… I am happy … to leave this place … at last… Thank … you…" these were his last words, as he collapsed to the floor and his fiery eyes extinguished forever…

... Witnessing their leader fallen, the forces of Mordor panicked, and ran from the walls in great speed, and even the eight remaining Nazgul were not able to stop the fleeing orcs, who were out of control. Half of the force went back to Lugburz, and the other half was met by approaching reinforcements from king Théoden, and was destroyed.

"This is how it ends… Battle that will be remembered and a great victory…" Gandalf said thoughtfully as he watched the enemy running away from the walls. The ultimate digimon disbanded into more simple ones and their tamers, and they watched it too

"And for some reason … this victory … didn't bring me satisfaction I expected…" Renamon whispered to her tamer.

"Yes, for some reason … it seems … hollow." Her tamer replied…

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Finally did it. I'm not too good in describing battles, sorry =( And I know the witch-king didn't have all that wagon of spells in the real thing, but I thought he should have them to live up to his reputation of "the strongest human wizard in history and blah blah blah.


	14. New journey

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 14 – New journey.

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Another chapter ready, sorry for the delay.

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…The great city of Minas Tirith was celebrating the great victory over the Dark Enemy. Many banners were hung from the walls, and even tough the refugees didn't return to their city yet, the news about the crushing defeat at the walls of the White city has travelled all across Middle-earth. Common people, soldiers, children, all were celebrating and were happy.

Sauron has lost his right hand in this battle. Along with more than a third of his entire forces. His rage was heard in thunders and lightning from across the mountains. He never expected such a bitter and utter defeat, as well as he didn't expect such resistance and betrayal from his nine underlings. And now that one of them, the most important and capable one, slipped through his fingers, the other eight were dealt with most harshly…

…Above the barren lands of Mordor, where nothing grew, near the big volcano that was known as mount Doom or Orodruin in Sindarin language, there was a tower. A tower dark as the darkest night, Barad Dur, was the place where Sauron was slowly gathering his strengths once more, kept in shape of the Great lidless eye, and from atop of that tower he gazed upon his dominion, and thought with hate about the rest of free Middle-earth, which he will burn to ashes some day.

But today his attention was not directed to these things. Before Sauron's eye there were eight spheres. They were white, and looked fragile and defenseless. Each one of them was shivering and trembling before the great evil that was taking shape. The spheres tried to fly away but were pulled back, like planets were pulled by the Sun. And the Lidless eye set all eight spheres at fire, and horrible screeches of pain and torture beyond a human's imagination were heard everywhere.

"Now, let me take a look on all of your memories…" the Flaming eye said with a thunder-like voice, and screams of anger and despair came out from all eight spheres as they were diminishing in size and were beginning to glow dimmer.

"I see… You had the ones who proved to be the cause of my defeat in your grasp, at Minas Morgul, and you LET THEM GO!!! You will be punished… You will be sorry… You will obey me." Sauron said heavily as he began consuming the eight spheres inside himself, ravaging with boiling hatred he held for all life.

The eye laughed at them with a laugh that was heard all across Mordor, and was making the orcs shake in their boots. They knew who was being punished by Dark Lord himself. Someone who would not cease to exist after the torture his wickedness might design…

… Rika woke up in the middle of the night again in cold sweat, breathing heavily. She had another nightmare. Actually, she never had a decent sleep ever since she and her friends ended up in this world. So she had to learn to sleep with having nightmares almost every night, and was getting used to them, but this night … this night it was different.

Tonight she didn't saw herself or any of her friends tortured or killed or anything – she got used to these already. She saw people, people she never saw before, but who looked familiar somehow. The place where they were could have been described as worse than hell, as things that were done to them cannot be described with words. The torture was twisting their essence into something dark, horrible and malicious. And she saw these people endure all those things, and not giving up, no matter how hopeless their situation have seemed.

Rika looked around. Everyone seemed to sleep soundly, even Renamon, who was still very tired from the battle that barely cost both her and her tamer their lives, and was recovering that way. Rika didn't want to disturb anyone, so she quietly went to the tale and poured a cup of water from a jar. The water was cold and fresh, it managed to cool Rika off a bit.

She went to the balcony to get some fresh air and to get her head clear. She knew she won't be able to sleep normally that night anyway, ad she didn't desire to stay in bed and stare at the ceiling till the morning. The sight from the balcony was rather beautiful. It was full moon, and there were no clouds at all to cover its light. There were also many stars, Rika never seen so many of them before, of all sizes, big and small, they gleamed upon her with their light.

Suddenly, Rika heard steps coming from behind. They didn't startle her, because she knew who that was.

"Aww, Rika, why are you not asleep? It must be around three in the morning!" Takato yawned and said quietly, with intention not to wake the others. Rika turned her head to him slightly, but didn't reply anything, everything was written on her face already.

"Another nightmare, eh?" he asked quietly as he approached her. Rika only nodded in return, without taking her eyes away from the skies.

"Well, what was it about this time?" Takato asked kindly, sincerely hoping to ease his friend's worries through a talk.

"Hell, I think…" Rika replied dimly. Takato sighed heavily when he heard the answer. They stood and looked at the sky for a couple of minutes in silence, before Takato decided to break it again:

"You know, you have a strange and unhappy look on your face all the time since that battle… You and Renamon finished off a powerful enemy, you are considered heroes in the forces even to a degree they want to build you a monument, but for some reason you don't look too happy about it. Come to think of it, neither does Renamon. Why is that?" he inquired. Rika didn't say anything in reply for a couple of minutes, so Takato assumed she ignored his question, and was having in mind to leave and leave Rika in peace, but suddenly she asked:

"Takato, do you remember when we first appeared at Minas Morgul, you offered the Nazgul your help, even though you didn't know how to help them?" she said sadly. The question itself seemed strange to Takato, as well as the fact that he was not called Gogglehead again.

"Well, yeah, kinda. But I remember your, Henry's, and Nazguls' reaction on this … rather stupid idea, so I didn't bring it up again. Why have you asked?" he inquired.

"When you and Henry were rendered unconscious, and were carried away by the commander and his remaining troops, I and Renamon biomerged into Sakuiamon. And we fought… Back than I think Murazor was using only his own power… And we … sort of… had a talk…" she said a bit reluctantly, with a distant intonation, as if she was not really there.

"What do you mean by that?" Takato inquired.

"It is hard to explain… Some sort of a spell that allowed him to make a mental contact with us… or I don't know. He saw our essence, our soul, and we … saw his…" Rika replied even dimmer.

"His? And what did you see?" Takato asked again.

"A man, nothing more. That was not I expected to see at all… I expected a monster, and found … this." She made a revelation. Takato spent several seconds on thinking what to say in return, and replied:

"Yeah, something like a big black dragon, or some blackness thingy, or a walking skeleton…" he tried to joke, but silenced as this was not helping.

"Yes, something like that. And that old man asked us to … kill him. He said that it is the only way to free him from Sauron's will, and also said he will not resist. But then … suddenly, his master interfered…" Rika replied as she took a breath.

"Sauron…" Takato said dimly.

"Yes. He promised great punishment to the Witch-king and his eight brothers, after that, seized control of the Witch-king's body and empowered it with his own dark energy that nearly brought doom on us all…" she said.

"So that is why he fought us so fiercely. Is that why you tried to say something to him during the battle?" Takato asked.

"Yes…" Rika replied calmly, she was coming to terms with herself.

"I don't understand… If we destroyed Witch-king, and freed him, why are you so upset?" he inquired again.

"It's … difficult to explain… For some reason I feel like I murdered someone. Maybe there was some another way…" she said thoughtfully.

"No, there was no another way! You saw what that guy did! If we hadn't stopped him, many more innocents would have been slain! Do not blame yourself for doing the right thing, Rika. And besides, Renamon told me he was more than a 1000 years old. Frankly, he should have been long dead." Takato exclaimed, sure that he was right.

"We are already dead, it is just a matter of how many we will slay before we actually fall… That is what he said." Rika replied with a phrase she remembered from that talk.

"Well at least he had no illusions about himself…" Takato commented.

"Yes, you are right, and I know that. But this doesn't make it go away, you know? There are still eight more, and from what I have heard, their master can do the same thing to every one of them. I think now I understand that your idea back then was not so foolish after all…" she replied.

"Rika, if it will make you feel better, let's go tomorrow to Gandalf, the white wizard, and ask his counsel on that matter. He is wise, I'm sure he will think up something… But for now, standing here freezing will not do you any good. Try to sleep again, maybe this time it will be a peaceful dream, and not a nightmare." Takato said with kindness and care. Rika was looking weary and tired, and that fact made him worried.

"I guess you're right. I will not do anyone any good if I will be tired and unprepared when a new foe will strike." Rika replied, yawned and went back to bed, and Takato went to his. It was a long night…

… The next day Gandalf was requested an audience about a very … delicate matter. Since the ones who requested it did a great service for Gondor and all mankind, it was impossible to refuse. However, Gandalf considered both children and their Digimon as friends, and was not reluctant to meet with them. He felt, however, that the talk will be about something extremely important, so he brought his trusted commander with him.

The subject proved to be touchy indeed. The boy did all the talking, but he was talking for everybody in his group. And while Gandalf was finding the idea and the whole subject worthy of deepest deliberations, he noticed that the commander whom he brought with him, was stalking the boy with icy glare and with an impenetrable expression on his face, or what was left of it. Gandalf knew this man long enough to know that this means the officer completely disagrees, and feels it is his duty to object.

"Excuse me for saying this… But I find the whole idea of talking about this preposterous and treasonous. To try and free the Nazgul?! Because they don't really want to serve Sauron? Well you'll understand if I'll hold back the tears! I lost too many men to those monsters and I will stand for nothing except their total annihilation. They are the enemy, they're vermin, a thread to mankind. They must be destroyed." The last words commander said with cold determination, as if he was sentencing someone to death. That tone was giving shivers to everyone.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your impulsive speech, my dear friend, but, unfortunately, I will have to disagree with you. You remember how much effort it took to bring down one Nazgul, and that it was defeated only by these people's valorous efforts. I don't doubt your own courage or determination of your men, but I can say for sure that they all would prove useless when fighting a Nazgul, especially if the Dark Lord will channel his power through him. Thus, if a Nazgul will encounter an army of ours when neither I, nor our allies are around, they are doomed to die. In other words, all our war effort relies on these children and their friends. How does it feel to let other people fight your own wars, Ristor?" Gandalf asked the commander with an ironic intonation. These words were enough to cripple officer's unwaveringness.

"Instead of hunting the rest of the Nazgul across the continent, they propose us a very decent plan of getting rid of all Nazgul at once. Plus, we all know that it is not Sauron himself who leads the armies, but his underlings. If we succeed, enemies' entire high command will be decapitated, armies in disarray and war effort hindered. We do not know for how long this war will go on, but I'm sure this will buy us a lot of time, since it is hard to find a replacement for such a loss quickly." Gandalf added, completely destroying the commander's point of view.

"You are right, Mithrandir, sir. I will do as you order." The commander reported back in his typical fashion. Gandalf sighed when he heard that.

"Blind obedience is not always exactly a bad thing, especially in the military, but I explain all this to you so that you would understand what and why we are doing this. Anyway, child, I feel there is something you want to tell me…" the white wizard redirected his attention at the boy.

"Yes, when we first found ourselves in Minas Morgul, and talked with the Nazgul, I remember one of them mentioning some Carn Dum, and research that was done there, which had to do something with getting free from Sauron, but it was abandoned…" Takato replied.

"What the hell is Carn Dum anyway?" Henry suddenly asked.

"Carn Dum … it is a dark place, where shadows dwell and evil still lurks in deep catacombs that would be best to remain hidden forever… It is more of a ruin now than a city, once it was the capital of a state known as Angmar, it was Witch-king's citadel, like Minas Morgul is now. But it was destroyed when elves and humans defeated the Nazgul's armies… You might find something there that might give us a clue to find a way to disrupt the spell Sauron managed to cast upon his underlings…" Gandalf replied thoughtfully.

"You send THEM on this mission?! When we're about to send armies to blockade Minas Morgul and storm to Morrannon, and you send our key to our war effort on some scout mission?! Send Itilien archers instead, I have every faith they will do the job excellently." Commander objected.

"No, I fear this mission will be too dangerous to send your scouts. I don't doubt their skill, but ruins of Carn Dum might have still some magical traps like the ones of Minas Morgul. They will simply die or will go insane. Plus, we don't know anything about the enemy activity there, when was the last scouting mission to those places?" Gandalf replied.

"So you're sending children instead." Commander replied with irony.

"They survived Minas Morgul, and a fight with empowered Witch-king himself. They are worthy enough." Gandalf objected.

"But they're still only children! Let me and some of my men go with them then." Commander proposed, with concern in his voice.

"No, commander Ristor. I will need you at my side this time, you will lead the vanguard of our force, and we need such an experienced military leader like you. And we will not storm Morrannon until our allies finish their mission, if possible. But I will send some of your men with them, yes. But I have only so few artifacts that could protect from black magic in my disposal, so there would be enough only for our allies and a couple of troops. But I think they'll do fine." Gandalf reassured everyone.

"Carn Dum must be far away. It will take many days to reach it." Rika made an assumption.

"On horses – yes. But I believe we have other transport for you…"Gandalf replied, and suddenly something that sounded like a scream of a giant eagle pierced the air…

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There, done. I will try to update the story more often.


	15. Flying away

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 15 – Flying away.

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Another chapter ready. Hope you enjoyed the story so far =)

Sorry it took me so long, I had an internet connection trouble and was unable to upload this chapter for some time now.

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… The trio, followed by their Digimon, was following Ristor through a rather wide corridor through the barracks. The reason they all went there was that the warehouse, where all magical artifacts and other stuff was kept was there. The second reason was that commander Ristor needed to pick men who will accompany our heroes and protect them during their journey.

The place was pretty much like everyone expected it to be, though no one of them ever was in military barracks. They were separated in two equal parts on each side of the hall – one room was used as a training ground, other – as a place to sleep for the soldiers. Swords, shields and spears were stacked in special holdings, so that in case of alarm they could be taken quickly. The alarm was a large bell hung up to the ceiling and a watchman who always stood near the rope. In the end of the hall was the entrance to the warehouse.

It was pretty obvious that soldiers worked in shifts, a third of them was sleeping, other third – training, while the others were on patrol or guard duty. Everything was working like clockwork.

"Consider this a free tour. This is how we live." Ristor said as they were passing by the training hall. There soldiers were practicing hand –to-hand combat in full armor equipment. While they were passing by several words from the drill sergeant were overheard:

"Our numbers swell, our training hones us! The enemy shall fear us once more!" the sergeant sounded like he believed in what he was saying.

"Sheesh, talking about propaganda at its best…" Takato commented.

"Propaganda is an essential part of every war effort. A soldier must believe in righteousness of what he is doing, to fight and, maybe, to die for a cause. It builds up loyalty, and from loyalty comes discipline. A soldier who is loyal to the cause will never slack on his duties and will follow any order to the letter. From discipline comes skill and from skill comes courage." Commander explained.

"Courage comes from skill? How is that?" Rika inquired.

"Very few are born brave. But courage can be taught, as a … child is taught to speak. And so we teach, through rigorous and constant training in the ways of discipline and battle." The commander replied, and the girl noticed her digimon nodding.

"It is hard to disagree with the truth. I suppose you had some influence on your soldiers, hadn't you?" Renamon said, after she replied to her tamer's questioning glare.

"Yes, all this you see before you here is mostly my doing. I was given permission to reform the elite corps, when I received this post six years ago… When I received them, it was not much to look at. Regular infantry, which only have seen a bit more combat. And there were only 200 of them… Clearly not enough to represent a formidable military thread. Under me their numbers were increased from 200 to 1500, and are still increasing… Their training was raised to higher standards as well." The commander continued with pride in his voice.

"You mean it is because of you these soldiers are able to withstand fear and fight so well?" Takato inquired.

"Yes, I spent all these years in missions throughout Middle-earth, and all my spare time I dedicated to training my troops personally. If it was up to me, I would have had entire army reformed and would have raised all training standards, so that every last foot soldier would receive the same training as the elites do… But, unfortunately, my suggestions on this matter were ignored, as Mithrandir believes I am overzealous with my duties. He doesn't understand that this training will improve our soldiers' chances of getting home to their families in one piece… Hnh, what does he know about mustering military power anyway?" Ristor said in a bit of irritation as he entered the training ground, followed by the others.

"Ristor, do you have a family of your own?" Rika suddenly inquired. This question surprised the commander a bit.

"Yes, I do, but I haven't seen them in a really long time…" Ristor replied as his glare stopped at the girl for a second.

"Why? Didn't they live with you in the city?" Rika asked again.

"No, they live very far away… And, frankly, this is none of your business, we should get back to what we're doing. Sergeant!" the commander called and the next moment the drill sergeant was in front of him.

"Yes, sir, how can I help?" the sergeant asked as he approached his commanding officer.

"Find lieutenants Morn, Corudor and Aramir and bring them here. On the double!" Ristor ordered and the next moment the sergeant disappeared in the resting quarters.

"This will take about three minutes. We should wait." The commander said, and redirected his attention to watching the other troops train. Since no one had anything better to do they started watching it too. One of the pairs attracted Henry's attention. Apparently one of rawer recruits was put in a pair with more experienced soldier. The newbie was attacking harshly, trying to hit his opponent, but the opponent, without much effort, redirected those blows, he moved like water, and was having in mind to weaken his opponent by letting him waste energy on these vaunted attacks. This was all too familiar to the boy.

"Excuse me, can I ask something?" Henry asked as he approached the commander.

"You may ask." he replied benevolently.

"This fighting style that trooper performs, it couldn't be Tai-chi, could it?" the boy asked while looking at the commander, and noticed that for a second his face expressed fear and shock.

"Tai-chi? Never heard of it. You must have confused it with something else." The commander replied confidently enough to convince Henry that he was seeing things. The next moment out of the resting quarters came three tall, fully armed and ready troopers, guards of the citadel, with big bags on their shoulders. They resembled other troopers completely, the only difference were badges with symbol of Gondor – the white tree, on their shoulders.

"Lieutenants Corudor…"

"Morn… "

"…And Aramir reporting for duty." Three lieutenants added one another as they reported to their commanding officer.

"Two minutes and 16 seconds. Not bad, but I expect better next time… Anyways, I have a special assignment for you three. You will follow these people on a mission. Protect them with your lives. During this mission you will be under their command. I do not tolerate failure." Ristor said strictly and with authority.

"Yes, sir. We will not fail you." Three lieutenants replied simultaneously, and followed the group to the warehouse.

"Why do we need those guys anyway? Our digimon can protect us better and all." Rika grumped.

"Because, my dear child, when you will encounter an enemy, or a group of enemies, your digimon will not be held back by the responsibility of defending you, since you will be safe behind these soldiers' backs, and will obliterate the enemy faster. Like Mithrandir said, you are the key to our war effort, so I'm not taking any chances here. I would have sent a battalion of troops with you, but I have only so many of those damn amulets." The commander replied with a bit of irritation as they entered the small warehouse…

…The warehouse was not much to look at inside. A typical large room, cramped with armor, weapons, provisions, ammunition and the like. The arrival of the group was expected, however, because as soon as they went in the man who was in charge of the warehouse resented them with a rather well-crafted wooden box. Inside there were nine amulets, which looked like medallions with strange runes engraved on them.

"What the hell are these?" Takato asked as he held one of the amulets in his hands and looked at it with suspicion.

"Elfish medallions, engraved with magic symbols to protect the wearer against dark magic. We had a lot more of these, but they were lost, or sold, due to corruption in the ministry of military supplies. When this fact was discovered, unfortunately, it was too late to find the artifacts that were wasted like that…" Ristor replied, as everybody in the squad received their things and they were lead to where their "transport" was stationed.

"Is this why the warehouse is stationed on your territory now?" Henry asked.

"You know what they say, if you want to do something right, you have to do it yourself, so military supplies are now also under my jurisdiction. Anyways, we are here… Your transport waits. He he." The commander laughed a bit as he opened the door that lead to an opened clearing, which almost looked like it was made on purpose for something, or someone, to land on it. But what really surprised the children was three giant eagles. These gracious birds were waiting for their passengers.

"Well I'll be darned… Are we going to ride THAT?" Henry asked as he gapped in amazement.

"Yes, they will take you to the place much faster than your average horse would." One of the soldiers replied to that.

"Great, we get to fly a giant chicken. I'd rather be…" Rika stopped complaining when one of the giant birds gave her a not so friendly glare. It distorted the arrogant girl quite a bit, and made Ristor laugh.

"Heh, better choose your words more carefully next time. These birds understand human language, and are very smart, smarter than most humans are, so you'd better show some respect." Ristor replied laughingly, but Rika only grumped in return.

"How do you know if we can trust them?" she asked.

"Mithrandir trust them, he says they saved him once. Do not worry, they will get you where you need in no time." The commander assured.

In a couple of minutes the squad has already mounted the eagles. The only trouble was with Guilmon, whose dinosaur-like complexion didn't allow him to hang on tight on the eagle's back. This was solved fast, however, as a soldier took a seat next to Guilmon and got a grip on him to make sure the red digimon won't fall off.

"Try to get back in one piece, don't hesitate to use soldiers I've sent with you as a means to cover your escape. You're more important than all of my troops put together. We will deploy our armies to Minas Morgul, and after you're back, we might as well attack the Gates of Mordor. I wish you luck in your mission. Safe journey!" the commander shouted as the birds took off in the air and flew in the direction of the distant Carn Dum.

"Bye-bye!" Takato shouted in return as the eagles they were flying on departed farther and farther from the white city…

The commander watched the three eagles fly away, as they were diminishing in size because of the distance, until they looked like only three little dots, which soon disappeared out of sight completely. His thoughts were heavy. Ristor thought he managed to come to terms with things that happened to him long ago, but this talk he had with the rest of the squad before they left managed to bring it all up again.

"Sir…" one of the soldiers at the door called.

"Yes, what is it?" the commander sighed.

"I was sent to remind you that you have a meeting with other generals in ten minutes." the soldier said calmly.

"I never forget anything. Let's go." Ristor replied and went where he should, followed by the soldier who escorted him.

"Excuse me, sir, but … are you alright? You look like you have seen a ghost." The soldier asked with concern, considering the commander looked pale.

"A ghost? Maybe… maybe not. It doesn't matter now. I just have a strange feeling I will not see the group I just sent on a mission ever again…" Ristor replied distantly, as he was nearing the meeting chamber.

"But, sir, they are all heroes of the battle of Pellenor fields, and you even sent you own personal guards with them! I'm sure your worries are unfound." the soldier assured.

"Yes, I believe you are right. Well, I'd better get going…" the commander replied as they reached the chambers and he went in. It was promising to be a long meeting, as not all of the generals approved the idea of making active war efforts, and preferred to sit behind the safety of the walls. Ristor had to convince them that offence is the best defense…

… The city was far far away now, even the giant white tower in the center of the city looked like a small tooth from afar. Everything looked so little from up there, yet everyone tried not to look down, because no one wanted to find out they have a fear of height. The wind was striking hard at the cheeks, it was almost like flying one of the archaic planes with open cockpit.

Renamon enjoyed the flight pretty much, because of the sense of freedom it was giving. There were times she wished she had wings, and wished to fly just for the feel of it, and not because she had to destroy an airborne target. This was like her dream partially come true. Although this feeling was a bit disrupted because she felt the soldier encased in metal armor from tip to toe from behind and her tamer from her front.

Her attention stopped at her tamer again. She was acting unusually quiet ever since the beginning of the journey. She heard the boys and their digimon screaming in fright and excitement as the whole thing began, but her tamer was showing nothing, but apathy. Her face expression remained thoughtful, as if she was trying to remember something.

"Is something wrong, Rika?" Renamon asked with worry in her voice. Her question made Rika snap out of her trance.

"Huh? Oh, no, nothing is wrong. It's just that guy, tower guard commander, Ristor or something… I thing I have met him somewhere before…" Rika replied a bit unsurely.

"Well, you did, when we were captured, later on our first meeting with Mithrandir, several times during the battle with the Nazgul, etcetera." Renamon started to remember all the occasions.

"No… I meant even before that…" Rika replied even more unsurely.

"Not on my memory, and I consider myself very good on remembering people." Renamon replied confidently.

"You're right. I should not distract myself from keeping my mind focused on our goal. If you will ever see me going all-numb again, return me to this reality, alright?" Rika asked mildly.

"As you wish." Renamon replied as the eagles were carrying them towards the unknown dangers that awaited them in the place of Carn Dum, a place with a reputation of a cursed place, of a former citadel of darkness. And the fortress, even being in ruins, was not going to give away its secrets so easily. Some secrets should be left unrevealed…

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There, done. Next chapter is close behind.


	16. Carn Dum

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 16 – Carn Dum.

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Another chapter ready.

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… Carn Dum was a fortress established on the very western end of the Mountains of Angmar, south of Forodwaith, northwest of Mount Gundabad. Once, a powerful stronghold of darkness in this region, from where the Witch-king of Angmar ruled with an iron fist, and directed attacks on the three realms of Arnor, was lying in ruins for a long time. After successfully besieged and taken by Glorfindel, the fortress was utterly destroyed, to ensure that evil and darkness would never again gain a foothold here.

But, as it always was, their efforts were not enough. Like so many times before, the forces of Light had enough power to defeat evil there, but not enough to destroy it. Beneath the fortress a vast net of catacombs remained mostly untouched. They say elves tried to sweep those underground passages clean, but were met with various insidious traps, both magical and mechanical, which were put there to insure the secrets buried within would not fall to the hands of unworthy.

From above the ruins were barely seen. Because the fortress was located in the cold mountains of Angmar, its ruins were covered by snow for the most part of the year, blending almost completely with the surroundings. Three eagles found a comfortable spot and landed there. Their passengers got from their backs in a minute, because legs hurt from such a long flight.

Not much remained since the fortress's destruction. What remained of strong walls and towers was slowly eaten away by winds and rains. But even in such a pathetic state, what once was the Witch-king's residence and the capital of Angmar still was able to instill fear. While the place looked completely abandoned by any life, and looked rather peaceful, there was something in the wind. Something that was telling people to avoid the place.

"Alright… We are here. Let's set up camp, men!" one of the lieutenants, named Morn, ordered and the other two unpacked the large backpacks they had with them. Inside were enough food supplies for 9 people to last for at least a week, and also some folded sheets, which appeared to be tents to stay in during the night.

"Don't you stand there, help us out!" the other one, named Aramir, called, and, a bit unwillingly, the rest of the group moved to help out with setting up camp…

…In half of an hour, everything was ready. Four tents were placed, so that there was enough room for everybody. One of them was a bit larger than the others, it was made to inhabit three people, and was made for the soldiers. The other three were smaller, able to inhabit only two people, and were supposed to go to digimon and their tamers. Although the digimon tried to assure that they do not need a place to sleep, Morn, the one who, apparently, was the leader among the escort trio, replied that "everybody has to sleep some time".

"Err, and how long we will stay in this place exactly?" Takato asked Morn.

"If we are lucky, we will find what we seek today. If not, we might spend here a week and not find anything. But the deadline is one week, we have provisions only for so long, and there were orders from Mithrandir himself for us to return within a week." The soldier replied.

"Well the sooner we get out of here the better. I don't like it here…" Rika said and looked around. She had a feeling for a second that someone was watching her, and it was not Renamon.

"Yeah, there is something … tainted … about this place." Henry agreed.

"Where are we supposed to start our search? If there are any entrances to the catacombs, they must be buried under a layer of earth, snow and rubble…" Renamon asked.

"Luckily, we have an old plan of Carn Dum which shows where entrances are, though there are not that many of them… It shouldn't be too hard to locate them." Corudor, who was silent all the time, finally said.

"Do you have plans of the catacombs by any chance?" Terriermon asked.

"No, these parts were barely charted by elves and men who were with them. I'm afraid we will have to make our own path there. And we must be prepared for surprises. There's no telling what could be waiting for us there…" Corudor replied. Since everything with setting up camp was done, there was no point in sticking around there, so the group decided not to wait long and to go ahead and search through the first of the entrances marked on the map…

…It took them a couple of hours to reach the first place by foot. The terrain was quite rugged, and was full of small obstacles which were annoying to overcome. Boulders, which were always getting in the way, slippery trails and other things like that. But finally, they managed to reach the spot. It looked like remains of a large tower, not a magical tower like in the center of Minas Tirith or Minas Morgul, but just a large average tower. It crumbled a long time ago, with rubble and snow covering the entrance.

"If we're going to find that way, we're going to need some shovels… Uh, I don't suppose you brought any with you?" Renamon sighed as she asked the soldiers.

"Actually, we did." One of them replied, and three small military-issue shovels appeared in their hands, to much amazement of everyone.

"Since when medieval warriors carry shovels with them?" Rika asked.

"Since the big reform we received a lot of new equipment. And besides, we were hand-picked for this mission, and equipped with everything we might need to achieve success." Morn replied.

"But I don't think they will be necessary. Terriermon, can you clean this mess up?" Henry asked his digimon.

"Sure thing, Henry. Terrier tornado!" the digimon screamed as he released a green tornado that blew away pretty much of the rubble and snow. To their amazement what they saw was … a big stone in a form of triangle, with something strange written on it in an unknown language.

"Another obstacle? Alright. Let's get it out of the way shall we?" Morn proposed and went towards the stone with his two buddies. Renamon and Guilmon followed, offering to lend a hand.

"Alright, one, two, three, pull!!!" one of the soldiers said, as everyone tried to pull the heavy stone away, but no matter how hard they tried, the stone didn't even twitch. Watching their efforts fail again and again, Terriermon asked his tamer:

"Henry, maybe I can blast the stone with my guns if I evolve into Gargomon?"

"I don't know, but it may be worth a shot." Henry replied, and with a slash of a blue card Terriermon digivolved into Gargomon.

"Stand back!" he ordered and, after everyone was out of range of fire, started to shoot at the stone. He didn't stop shooting until a big cloud of dust obscured his sight, forcing him to stop. When the cloud disappeared, towards to everyone's amazement, the stone proved completely undamaged. Gargomon's bullets were not enough to cripple it even for a bit.

"Damn! Maybe if I evolve to Rapidmon I will manage to do some good with my rockets?" the digimon proposed.

"Stop being a pyromaniac. Even if you will manage to blow that damn thing up, you might cause the entrance to cave in, making it impossible for us to enter." Renamon objected.

"So, anyone else has any bright ideas?" Rika asked.

"Err… can anyone read the sign which is written on the stone? Maybe it's important." Takato suddenly proposed. After that idea was heard, everyone approached the triangular stone again. The sign was written in Sindarin language, but, luckily, one of the soldiers knew it.

"This way remains sealed, you will need a special medallion to get in. Proceed at your own risk." Corudor, the one who was enlisted for his facility with languages, read. Grim silence was held for a minute.

"I know for a fact that elves are no pushovers. If they sealed this way, that means there is something out there, something they were not able to kill…" Morn said dimly.

"That means there might be something out there worth protecting." Takato replied.

"It's not like we have much of a choice around here. Come on." Rika said as she inserted her medallion into something that looked like a key-hole. After she did it and stepped away, with a strange noise, the triangular stone slid away, revealing a hatch made of black metal, with horrible creatures and strange symbols engraved on it. Once the stone slid, the doors opened by themselves, and an unpleasant smell of rotting wood and stuffy humid air went out.

"I have a BAAAD feeling about this." Takato moaned.

"What else is new…? C'mon, let's go. Keep close and … watch your step." Morn replied as he lighted up a torch, picked up his large shield and went into the darkness of the passage. His two comrades followed close behind. The rest of the group followed them into unknown as well…

… The fire of the torch lighted up the room they all were in. It was a small room, with a rather corridor that read further intro the catacombs. On the floor there was rubble from which once were some crates, or something like that, and rusted orcish weaponry. Pikes, swords, axes, they were lying on the ground as if they were dropped in hurry. But there was nothing that could give any directions or hints to what they were seeking.

"Sector clear. No enemies inbound. Proceed forward." Morn ordered.

"What exactly are we supposed to be on a lookout for?" Aramir asked as he first went into the dark corridor, carrying the torch.

"I don't know, anything you can think of." Corudor replied, as he followed his comrade. The soldiers were always first to go anywhere, that way they would be hit first by any threads, and not those who they were supposed to protect.

The squad was slowly moving towards the corridor, when, suddenly, they heard a screech of something rusty.

"What was that?" Henry asked, a bit frightened.

"Who cares? We should keep moving." Corudor said in irritation and made a few steps forward. Suddenly, he felt the ground going away from under his feet, and barely managed to jump off as a trap door opened right where he was standing.

"Whoa, now that would be an abrupt and stupid ending to my military career." He commented as everyone stared at the hole that just opened. It seemed bottomless. Rika took a coin out of her pocket and threw it in the pit. Everyone silenced as they were hoping to hear the coin hit he ground. But for two minutes nothing was heard.

"Talking about a long way down." Takato commented.

"There may be more surprises like that ahead of us…" Rika said a bit grimly. Morn nodded, went back into the room they came from and returned with an intact spear shaft in his hands. He didn't reply to the questioning glares everyone was giving him, and just moved ahead of everyone, and started to hit the floor ahead of him with it. After one of these hits, another trap was sprung, and another bottomless pit revealed itself, allowing everyone to go around it.

"This is taking way too long…" Renamon muttered and ran very fast across the corridor, and where she stepped, a trap door opened. She ran about 20 meters, and stopped. Behind her at least ten trap doors opened. She smiled proudly, when, suddenly, she felt the ground going away from under her feet as well, but was too confused to react and jump away. Everyone gasped in horror as she fell in the trap, and a second after that – in relief, as they saw Renamon coming out of it. Apparently, she was able to hang on to the edge at the last moment.

"Oh Renamoooon!" Rika called with a mawkishly sweet voice. Everyone understood from her intonation that she was actually very angry. Renamon swallowed, but teleported back to her tamer.

"Turn around, please." the girl continued in her intonation.

"But I…" Renamon tried to object.

"I SAID TURN AROUND!" Rika nearly screamed as her hand clenched fist. Renamon complied with that order.

"What are you going to … OUCH!" Renamon shouted as she received a rather unpleasant blow on the nape of the neck. Everyone around barely held the laughing.

"Idiot. Grow up already and stop showing off." Rika hissed in return.

"I hate to interrupt, but … can we carry on with the stick thingy?" Aramir inquired again. From all three he was the goofy type.

"Yes, carry on. It might be slow, but we don't want any accidents here." Henry replied. And so, step by step, they proceeded through the long corridor…

…After a rather long and boring way, they have finally reached the end of the corridor. The catacombs seemed to be kilometers deep, and filled with traps and other insidious devises. This one, however, was not so heavily defended, as the only traps they encountered were trap doors. The others, if they really were there, were either disabled or broken. Finally, they approached something that looked like some gateway. The gates looked pretty much like the ones they had to pass to enter the place, but were not closed or magically sealed or anything.

One of the soldiers slightly pushed the gates, and, with a terrible screech, they opened. To everyone's amazement, behind them was … just an empty room. There was nothing there. For a minute everyone gapped in amazement, until Rika proposed:

"There must be a hidden door somewhere. I mean, it just can't be empty, can it?"

"Maybe it can be just an empty room, because everything was evacuated from here. But we will search for the hidden door as you order." Morn replied.

…For a couple of hours they were knocking at every last brick the walls of the room were made of, in an attempt to find the secret door, although it's existence was just a supposition. But their efforts proved pretty much fruitless.

"Congratulations, we just lost a lot of time doing nothing!" Aramir exclaimed in frustration.

"You talk too much. We didn't lose time here, we reassured that there is nothing in this room. I suggest we will get out of here now." Corudor replied in his slightly irritated demeanor. With that, everybody turned around and went back the long way they came…

…When they finally exited the dark catacombs, they noticed that it was late in the night already. There were no stars, or the moon. The eagles were waiting, just waiting for the time to pass, since they were not allowed to go anywhere, and guarded the camp. Not that there were anyone to threaten it.

"That's it, there's no way I'm gonna wander through another one of those catacombs today. That can wait for tomorrow." Rika said as she yawned.

"Yeah, enough tomb-raiding for one day. Let's get some shuteye, shall we?" Takato supported, being tired himself. With that, the children left for their tents, digimon decided to stay awake and sat near the fireplace, and one soldier remained to patrol the area around the camp, while the others slept…

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Well, this one's ready, as promised. I hope I didn't annoy you with such a long story and all, because, by my calculations, there will be around 5 more chapters or so…


	17. Found

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 17 – Found…

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Another chapter ready. I hope you don't mind that story is centered mostly on Rika and Renamon. It's just that they are my sister's favorite characters, so … I had to comply.

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…For some reason, Rika was able to normally sleep this night, despite the fact they were on the tainted grounds. The small tent was left entirely to herself, since Renamon decided to volunteer for the guard duty, like she always did. The girl was very exhausted from all things she did this day, so when she finally got into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes, she snapped out into slumber almost immediately.

At first, Rika had no dreams at all. This was better than having nightmares all the time. But then, there was something… Slowly the darkness and nothingness, that surrounded her consciousness, faded, and Rika found herself on a beautiful meadow, full of flowers. This was … familiar.

Rika turned around, and saw a blossoming cherry tree. Under it she spotted her digimon, who, apparently, was sleeping. She approached Renamon, and shook her slightly, forcing to open her eyes and shake off the slumber. Renamon opened her eyes instantly, and she looked around in amazement.

"What the…? But I … I was awake a moment earlier, I swear!" she exclaimed.

"I know. But what I don't get, why we are here. I mean, we were here before…" Rika replied. She remembered well the last time she saw this place, when Murazor touched her mind.

"It can't be him. There is no graveyard around like it was the last time…" Renamon replied.

"Oh, on the contrary, it really is me." Suddenly they both heard a familiar voice from behind and turned around. It belonged to an old man both the girl and the digimon knew quite well, only this time he didn't wear any armor and was not armed. Instead he was in a wanderer's grey cloak, with a staff. And there was something new about his face. It didn't appear ghastly or frightening any more.

"Murazor! Ugh… What the hell are you doing here? You're dead!" Rika exclaimed in disbelief. The old man chuckled when he heard that.

"Dead? No. Freed – yes. And in no small part due to you both and for that I thank you. By "killing" me on the Pellenor fields you have rewarded me more than you could possibly imagine… if only my eight remaining brothers were as lucky…" Murazor replied with a bit of pain.

"But that's why we came here to Carn Dum! We will find the way to free the remaining ones!" Rika replied.

"That is very noble of you. Yet I doubt you will find anything of value here. As you saw, the fortress was destroyed, and there is little remaining here, and what could be of any value is well-defended. Trying to reach the secrets buried within could cost you your life …" former Witch-king gave a grim warning.

"I was told that Carn Dum once was your residence. You should know it better than anyone. Can't you offer us any guidance on to where your research can be found, and what dangers we should be prepared to face?" Renamon inquired, but the old man only shook his head in disagreement.

"Although Carn Dum was my fortress indeed, the research was not performed by me. I am a military commander, and a wizard, but not a scientist. The research was performed in secret by Adunaphel. I didn't even know about it, until … Sauron revealed it… I can only show you the entrance to her laboratory, but I hold no knowledge of what dangers might lie inside. All I know is that Adunaphel made it certain no one except us can enter, so expect to encounter something terrible. I'm sorry I cannot be of more help here." Murazor replied.

"Where is the entrance?" Rika inquired promptly.

"There is a cave in the mountains of Angmar, inside the fortress itself. To find it, you must go to what remains of the central tower of Carn Dum. It was a giant structure, and even elves were not able to destroy it completely, but years, wind and water did their work for them. From there, a trail will lead deep in the mountains. It will lead you directly to the cave." The spirit answered.

"You didn't come here just to say thank you and tell us all that, did you?" Renamon suddenly made a conclusion. It startled the old man a bit.

"Yes, you are quite right. I called for you to bring you a message. The war will soon be over. When it will be over, no matter who will win in the end, come to Minas Morgul. Only you and your friends must come. There, someone will be waiting for you, and will show you something…" Murazor replied mysteriously.

"Someone… something… Can you be more specific?" Rika asked.

"No, I cannot. But what you will find there … consider it a little something in return for saving me from a fate worse than death… Good bye … and … thank you again…" the spirit replied, and vanished, and soon the vision of a beautiful meadow vanished too, and Rika woke up. She heard quiet gasps of amazement, because Renamon snapped out of her sudden slumber outside the tent. But the decided that all this new info could wait for tomorrow, and went to sleep again. She didn't have any nightmares that night…

… With the first rays of sun the group decided to continue their search for something, something that could turn Sauron's most powerful and terrible servants against him. The group had in plans to scout through another of the catacombs nearby, but these plans were altered, as both Rika and Renamon claimed they had "a vision".

"So, let me get it straight. You say that we must go somewhere who knows where in the mountains of Angmar, and risk being ambushed by a bunch of goblins or mountain trolls because of one "vision"?" Morn said with an irony, doubting all mysticism.

"Yes. And from what I remember, commander Ristor ordered you and your men to obey OUR orders, so the decision is between us, and not you. Or do you want us to tell him how zealously you're following his instructions?" Rika replied harshly, displeased by the fact someone was doubting her.

"Hey, I would never disobey my orders, I'm not a fan of court martials. I was only trying to offer some constructive criticism, you know?" Morn withdrawn swiftly, apparently the remark hit the bull's-eye.

"Keep it cool, you two. I think their vision is very important, mainly because it appeared to two people at the same time. I think we should give this one a shot, it will save us a lot of time. And besides, these buried tombs are just as dangerous as your mountain inhabitants could ever be." Henry sounded as the voice of reason in this discussion.

"That's quite a supposition. What if they're wrong?" Morn continued to resist.

"What if we're right? That way it would take us only a couple of days to find what we seek, otherwise it may take us more than a month, and we don't have that much time." Renamon replied, and no one had anything to say against that. It was decided…

…More than a day has passed when they fled by a narrow and dangerous path towards the cave both Rika and Renamon were told about in their dream. Fortunately, no ambushes, traps and whatsoever were met during this tiresome climb, and lieutenant Morn's fears proved to be unfounded. At the end of their path, indeed, they found a large cave. But it was, too, blocked by a large triangular stone, with grim warnings written on it in Sindarin.

They didn't stop our heroes, however, they knew how to deal with such obstacles, and before you know it the stone was out of the way thanks to the amulets. There was no light inside, and the cave looked like a gaping maw of a large beast. Humid stuffy air came out when the stone was removed.

"Alright, men. Let's go." Morn ordered, and was about to enter, but was stopped by Takato.

"Wait, safety first." He said, and Guilmon shot a fireball in the black tunnel, and all watched it go farther and farther, lighting up the path, before it disappeared. It showed only a long and empty corridor. Without many words the troops went in, with wooden shafts in their hands to reveal any traps that might have been out there. The others followed close behind…

… The corridor seemed to last forever. Although no traps, insidious devices of death etcetera were met here yet, the soldiers continued to check every last centimeter of the ground with their shafts. Better be safe than sorry. They marched like this for hours, until, finally, they came across … a wall. The corridor ended up in a wall.

"WHAT?! Not again!" Takato and Henry exclaimed.

"He he he, so much for that vision of yours." Morn added ironically. What would Rika have given to wipe out that smirk off his face. Unfortunately for her, the guy was too high and wore a helmet. Suddenly, she noticed her medallion glow with a very bright light, as well as the other medallions.

"What the hell is that?" she asked in amazement.

"The medallion glows when a source of intense dark power is nearby…" Corudor replied.

Suddenly, the wall in front of them started to move. A straight crack appeared right in the center of it, and both halves of the wall started to move away, opening the path inside. Morn was looking ridiculous, and everyone barely held their laughs.

"Alright, alright, forget I said anything. Let's move on shall we?" he grumped and went inside, followed by the others. They went farther into the corridor, when it suddenly forked into three corridors. One lead to the right, one to the left, and one lead straight ahead. It was puzzling to choose the direction.

"Err, didn't your vision tell you where we should go from here?" Aramir asked.

"Unfortunately, no." Renamon replied.

"We should split up. We could cover more ground that way." Henry proposed.

"No way. We will get separated and will fall in some trap or an ambush something like that. We should stick together." Rika argued.

"First you insist on coming here, despite the danger, saying we would save a lot of time, and now you say it's too dangerous and we should stick together, and that way we'll lose a lot of time. Hnh…" Morn started to ironies again.

"You enjoy bugging me? Don't annoy me, or you'll get just what you're asking for!" Rika hissed back like a snake.

"Calm down, people, we won't do any good if we will gonna fight each other." Henry tried to keep things peaceful.

"Yeah, we should split up, otherwise you two will end up fighting eventually." Takato added.

"Ugh, yes, you're right. Very well, Aramir, you go with Takato and Guilmon to the right. Morn … you go with Henry and Terriermon to the left. Corudor, you follow us." Rika distributed the tasks and went forth, followed by her digimon.

"Alright, if anyone will get in trouble, just scream loud and the rest will be running to help. Let's go." Henry replied as he left with his group, and Takato went on his way as well. The group split in three to scout all the three corridors…

…Rika's group ventured through the assigned corridor for about an hour. Still, there were no traps, and this fact was disturbing. A nasty thought that something is not right was haunting them. That's why the soldier that went with them, Corudor, was tirelessly and monotonously touching every stone they stepped on with a shaft…

It was only a matter of time before they have stumbled upon a small room. It looked like their trip should have ended with that room, but there was something wrong with it. Renamon looked down for a second, and, to her amazement, saw a couple of skeletons on the ground. This discovery startled pretty much everyone.

"These are elfish skeletons… They were killed a very long time ago… Brutally killed. Something's fishy." Corudor said dimly after examination of the skeletons. They still wore their armor, only there were big holes in them.

Suddenly, they felt the earth and the walls shaking, and their medallions started to glow brighter than the torch the soldier held in his hand. The light of the torch went out soon afterwards, with only light coming from their medallions. Out of nowhere, the wall appeared, cutting off any attempt of escape.

"Damn, we're cut off." Rika exclaimed, as Renamon approached the wall and smashed it with her fist. Her blow left a large dent on the wall, but didn't break it.

"This … is bad." She said, when a sound of crumbling stones came from everywhere. They witnessed parts of the walls around them collapse, revealing hidden tombs of ancient warriors inside. Although it looked that all these people were mummified alive. These mummies still bore weapons and armor, which were quite corroded from the time spent inside.

But before anyone could react at this strange and unexpected appearance, the mummies started to move. Their moans were chilling to the bone, as they lend their cold dead hands towards the only three living creatures inside.

Rika wanted to scream, but her voice refused to obey her, so she only opened mouth without making any sound, like a fish. Before she would pass out completely, Corudor managed to grab her and retreat to the corner of the room, after that he turned around, to face the enemy, and to defend the fragile one from the mummies.

The undead enemy, however, attacked with more speed and strength than expected from wimpy and cumbersome zombies. Empowered by dark wizardry and, possibly, necromancy, they were just as fast and strong as any living soldier would be, they only difference was that their dried and mummified bodies proved a lot more resistant to hits.

Renamon was cut off from her tamer and the soldier, and was slowly pushed to the corner. The room was rather narrow, and cramped with enemies. It didn't allow enough room for speedy evasive maneuvers Renamon usually performed. She had to rely on her strength and reflexes to thwart the enemies. From her blows the mummies were flying away and hitting the walls, but were rising again to fight. Why those petty corpses remained intact from such bone-crushing blows, remained a mystery.

Several other undead warriors, who were not engaged in a fight with the yellow vixen, were attacking Corudor. While the lieutenant was more than capable of fighting all of then at the time, having seen that his sword bounces off from his foes, dealing no damage, he changed to defense mode, hiding completely behind his large shield and protecting the frightened girl behind him.

Rika tried to help out her digimon by equipping Renamon with a flamethrower of some sort. After she slashed a card, her digimon attempted to burn down the corpses. This was a foolish move, for they corpses didn't feel pain, and setting them on fire only made them more deadly and dangerous.

"This isn't working! Try to tare them apart!" Corudor screamed as one of the blows delivered by the mummies breached his shield. He felt he could be holding this position no longer.

"Alright." Renamon replied as she grabbed one of the enemies and tore his hands and head from him in a second. The dismembered body fell to the ground, as Renamon started to do so with another one, and another, and another…

…After some time of gut-ripping action, it all was over. Dismembered corpses were piled up in the center of the room. At a closer look, it was made obvious why the bodies proved so resistant to damage. Inside the corpses were fortified with metal parts, and since the only way those undead warriors could be stopped was dismembering, it was making them formidable opponents to anyone who didn't possess the strength of a troll.

"Ugh, disgusting." Renamon commented as she tried to clean her hands from the organic filth.

"No wonder the elves didn't make it this far. And we wouldn't have either without your help. Thanks." Corudor said with appreciation, after that the wall that was cutting them off from has collapsed, and on the other side were the others.

"There you are! What happ… oh. A trap?" Henry inquired as he, along with the others, entered the room and saw the pile of corpses. The question was rhetorical.

Before anyone could say anything more, suddenly, the floor and the walls started to shake again.

"Maybe second wave is coming! Defensive formation!" Corudor shouted as he and his comrades formed a circle around the children, and digimon got ready to face any possible enemies. This time, however, it was a false alarm. One of the walls crumbled, revealing a new passage, and the door on its end.

"Say, you guys found anything?" Rika asked when the reunited group went to the door.

"Only dead ends. Then, we heard intense fighting from your corridor, and rallied to help, although our attempt was stopped by the damn wall. I would have tried to blast through, but that would have been pointless, wouldn't it?" Terriermon replied…

…When they finally opened the last of the doors on their path, what they saw there amazed pretty much everyone. A vast library of various manuscripts, dedicated to magic, all types of it. Also there was some sort of a scientific laboratory, which, obviously, was dedicated to alchemy and chemistry. All that was under a considerable layer of dust. Everything around there was not touched for a very, very long time.

"Now, are we supposed to look through ALL THAT in order to find the results we're searching for?" Takato asked.

"Possibly, although I think these are only the materials which were involved in their work, but I'm not sure…" Henry replied.

Guilmon, who was wandering the room aimlessly, while the others tried to think up something, suddenly got his attention to what was lying on a table under a layer of dust. He moved closer to see what it is, and accidently breathed in the dust.

He sneezed so loudly it made the bookshelves shake. But the gust of air from his sneezing cleared the dust away, and revealed some sort of a journal lying on the table. It was covered with black skin of some unknown animal.

"Hey, guys! I think I found something!" he called, drawing everyone's attention to the book. When they opened it, they saw that most of the writings were made in ancient Numenorian.

"Great, that again. Can anybody read this?" Rika asked.

"I can." Corudor replied, and took the book from her hands. He quickly blazed through the pages, until encountering the last writings made:

"… I have wasted many years, recourses, and test subjects in a quest to find a way to free ourselves, and return our human bodies to us. The new body project failed miserably, the only benefit from it would be the creation of the sentinels to guard my secret. As for the freedom… the only way to free ourselves is to destroy THE ONE ring. What are chances of that happening? None, I'm sure. All hope is lost … for now. Thus I end my research.

Adunaphel the Quiet, Nazgul №7."

"Adunaphel? That sure sounds like … I don't know, a girlish name. Care to fill in the peanut gallery here, anyone?" Takato commented.

"Indeed. Adunaphel was a Numenorian princess. They say she was exceptionally beautiful from young age, her youth was scarred by her father's death. She blamed her mother for his death though. She left Numenor, claiming her purpose to see Numenorian dominion over all men in Middle-earth. But in reality, she desired a crown of her own, she wanted to be a queen, and here was the opportunity. Eventually, she accepted the ring from Sauron, and became this hideous spawn of darkness." Corudor concluded this short history of a downfall.

"Wow, you sure know a lot for a soldier, even an elite one." Henry said in appreciation. This remark made the distant soldier smile a bit.

"I was hand-picked for this mission because of my knowledge, and not skills in battle." He replied with a bit of pride.

"Still… What a disappointment. All that trouble we came through and for what? For nothing…" Renamon sighed.

"Yeah yeah, blah blah. Now can we please get out of here? Before something will decide to skulk out if the shadows. And next time I'll be visiting ruins of ancient dark fortresses, it wouldn't be too soon." Rika said in irritation, still in a shock from the attack that came not a while ago, and the group silently went back the way they came…

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Done. Next chapter will be ready soon.


	18. Casualties

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 18 – Casualties.

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Another chapter ready. This turn of events was planned since the beginning of the story, and small hints of it were given earlier in this story, so do not be too surprised ;)

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… Finding nothing useful in that abandoned ancient research facility was quite a blow for everyone in the group. They knew what this would mean – that the war will continue, and more innocent blood will be spilled. It is life – there never could be a fast and easy solution to a big and difficult problem, otherwise the problem would not be considered so big and difficult. In disappointment, the group marched back from the mountains to the place where their eagles were left. They knew that the birds would be waiting for them.

On their way back the group was caught in a blizzard, and was forced to take refuge in one of the smaller caves they have found. They had to wait for a day there, freezing, until the snow stopped swirling around under the powerful gusts of wind coming from atop of the mountains of Angmar.

After that they encountered the avalanches, because the snow was not hanging together in some places, so even a sound of a voice could make a snow wave collapse upon the unwary travelers. After barely escaping such a thread, no one spoke to each other until they were out of there, because no one wanted to be buried alive under a couple of meters of snow.

Compared to the journey to the cave, this one proved to be much more dangerous, so it took them about four days to make it back to the camp. They didn't take enough provisions with them, so the human part of the group experienced starvation to some degree. Luckily for the children, the soldiers shared their military rations with everybody, even though it was leaving them without proper nourishments, but they were trained to survive without much food or water, so it proved no problem…

…The flight back to Minas Tirith was not long, well, compared to their trip on foot through the blizzard peaks of mountains of Angmar. It was a bit of shame for everyone to return from their expedition empty-handed. Well, almost empty-handed. Corudor took the journal they found as a proof that they actually were at the catacombs, and not just slacking off somewhere.

When they were flying above the great city, they noticed that below there were a lot of people. Carts, crates, soldiers and refugees were returning to the safety of the walls of the capital of Gondor. The city, which not so long ago was inhabited only by military, now was slowly returning to normal, busy life.

The eagles approached the landing pad and landed on it. A handful of citadel guards left the tower near the pad and provided escort for those who arrived. After all equipment was taken off the giant birds, the eagles made a fly for their nest far, far away, and disappeared out of sight fast.

"Mithrandir is waiting, he has much to tell you. Follow us." The guard said with a hollow voice. It startled pretty much everyone, but none dared to ask any of the escort what happened, mainly because their face expressions were rather hostile, well, more than usually. Everybody wondered what caused such a change of mood…

… When the group arrived at the place the guards were leading them to, it appeared to be a … throne room, actually. It was empty now, and only the white wizard wandered in those empty halls. The door opened with a slight creek, and the group walked inside. The door closed.

Gandalf noticed their presence immediately, as the door closed.

"Welcome back. Glad you all made it back in one piece. Was your mission successful?" he inquired as he approached the rest.

"Well… Not exactly. We found the results of the researches, but I'm afraid they will not satisfy you." Henry replied a bit reluctantly, as Corudor gave Mithrandir the journal they found. Mithrandir looked through it almost as fast as Corudor did when he found it, and closed it after some minutes of reading.

"It is a bit unfortunate that all that hard work, and all those obstacles you overcome to find this journal, was in vane. But the good news is that even such a setback is irrelevant now." Gandalf replied cheerfully. This amazed everyone quite a bit.

"Irrelevant? What do you mean by that?" Rika asked suspiciously.

"Oh, didn't someone tell you already? The war is over. We won." The white wizard replied casually. This revelation shocked everyone for about a minute.

"Wait, say what?" Takato asked again.

"You head me. The war is over. The ring that was the key to Sauron's destruction was tossed into the fires of mount Doom. The forces of darkness are utterly defeated, the evil will never again threaten Middle-Earth on such a scale…" Gandalf replied proudly. Everyone had their jaws dropped for another minute.

"Wait… What happened … to the Nazguls?" Rika asked heavily after a pause. Gandalf shook his head regretfully.

"They were caught in the fires of Mount Doom, when they tried to save the ring from destruction, under the whim of their dark master. They all perished in the flames. They are free now." He said.

"Well… At least they are free now from that tormented existence. We did all we could for them…" Takato said a bit sadly. Maybe he still believed there was a way besides physical destruction. Maybe not, who can tell?

"So… If the war has ended … what will happen to us now?" Renamon asked, returning everyone to the reality of the situation.

"What could happen to you? You all are heroes of Gondorian people, the defenders of Minas Tirith. For your accomplishments, bravery and valor you are to be commended, and you have my word that you will be treated with honor and respect even in the highest palaces of this world…" Gandalf replied honestly. And what he said was true, the children and their digimon were praised as heroes in the army and among the common folk. Their future was pretty much secured.

Suddenly, the doors opened and an officer went in. Henry recognized him, it was the attendant of commander Ristor, they saw him a couple of times, enough to memorize the face. By his looks the boy could tell that the officer was perfectly calm. The attendant greeted everyone, and addressed directly to Gandalf:

"Mithrandir, sir, I have to inform you that the meeting, where we will appoint the new commander of internal security forces of Minas Tirith will begin in half of an hour. Please be there when the time comes, your voice will be important, almost as important as king Ellesar's." he said rapidly, and Gandalf received another portion of questioning glares from everyone.

"New commander? What, Ristor is getting promoted to a higher rank or something?" Rika inquired with a laugh, but silenced when she saw the darkened face expression of the white wizard. That was a bad sign.

"What happened?" Morn asked with tremor in his voice. He had a bad feeling about this.

"I was meaning to inform you all… As you know, commander Ristor followed me as second-in-command to lead the armies to Morrannon. He … he didn't make it back…" Gandalf said with grief. He knew the commander, and was a friend to him. Suddenly something heavy hit the floor.

"No…" Corudor sighed as he picked up his shield from the ground, he drooped it in amazement.

"This can't be true…" Aramir mumbled, barely holding his tears.

"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!! Ristor was, like, the best of the best! He taught every last one of us everything! He was like a father to us all! He cannot be dead!" Morn screamed in rage. Gandalf approached him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know it's hard, but you're a soldier too. You must understand… No one is invincible. All who are made of flesh and blood die eventually. Ristor received a warrior's death…" Gandalf tried to cheer the grieving soldier up, unsuccessfully. The soldier's face, which was expressing anger at the moment, slowly changed to a cold and emotionless one, just like the ones the guards outside the door had.

"I understand. We have reported to you the results of our mission. Do you have any other assignments for us?" Morn asked with a hollow voice, which gave shivers to everyone.

"No. You are free to go. Take care." Gandalf replied, and the trio left through the door in silence. It was held for almost a minute after they left.

"Poor guys, they must really miss their commanding officer, huh?" Takato asked.

"Ristor was a legend in the ranks of the citadel guards. He made them the might and pride of Minas Tirith. And he cared great deal about his soldiers…" Gandalf explained dimly.

"I never expected so many people actually cared if this guy was dead or alive. It's quite surprising, since he didn't have a friendly character." Rika commented, while choosing her words carefully. She didn't want to say anything bad about a dead person, but she disliked the commander's straightforwardness and nastiness sometimes.

"You have reminded me of a very important issue I need to discuss with you all. Well, actually, I have something to show you. When the soldiers found commander Ristor's body, and relieved him of any armor, weapons and personal affects, they found something in his chest pocket of his shirt he wore underneath his armor. I would like you to take a look at it." Mithrandir said and took something from his pocket. Everyone approached in curiosity.

"Here it is…" Gandalf added as he gave it to them. It appeared to be a small book of some sort. The coverage was made of leather, and it looked rather old. But there was something that attracted everyone's eyes. The writings on the cover were made in native language of where the children came from.

"No way, it can't be!" Rika exclaimed in amazement.

"Oh, it is alright. And the fact that the sign says "Photo album" clears off any doubts." Henry replied.

"You mean that this person actually…" Renamon started.

" …Might have been from our world too. Yes, why it surprises you so? We touched the strange table and got zapped in here, so I assume someone else was just as unlucky as we were." Terriermon replied, and the kitsune agreed with him.

This day definitely brought up surprises. In excitement they have opened the small book, which once belonged to the commander. Some of the pages were stained in blood. This immediately reminded everyone that they, perhaps, forgot too soon that the person to whom the photo album belonged was dead.

"Wait, stop. We should not be doing this. It isn't right to just dig like that in someone other's memories…" Rika said.

"I think you're right. We might want to know who this person really was, but … I think we should do it less eagerly…" Henry replied, and, after everybody calmed down, turned the page. It was not covered in blood, and an old photo was glued to it. On it, there was a group of armed men, wearing black Kevlar ballistic jackets. Below it there were some writings. They said: "My platoon."

"Well, that makes a lot of sense, actually. It seems the guy was a soldier." Takato made a conclusion.

"And that would explain how he managed to bolster the military of this state and climb so high in the ranks. And I could wager that this was no ordinary military unit." Renamon commented as they turned the page.

On the next page there was a picture of a city. Tall buildings in the center, and small, one or two floors - high building on the edges. A pretty average city, but also so familiar.

"Well I'll be damned if it isn't Shinjuku district!" Takato exclaimed.

"I told you I have seen that guy somewhere before!" Rika hissed to her digimon.

"Maybe you did, but that must have happened before we met each other." Renamon replied, as Takato took the little book in his hands and turned the page.

"Well, lets see what else we might find out about this … oh." He said and closed it before anyone else could see what was there.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" Rika asked a bit loudly.

"Yeah, what's the big deal? Let us see!" Henry supported.

"Err, it's … nothing. Yep, nothing to see, move along. He he." Takato replied and laughed a bit hysterically.

"You're hiding something, GIMME THAT!" Rika exclaimed as she unexpectedly pushed the boy and grabbed the photo album from his hands.

"Now, let's see…" Rika said as she opened the book and started to turn the pages.

"Rika, you don't want to see those!" Takato tried to take the damn thing back, but his efforts were futile.

"What the hell is going on can someone tell me?" Henry exclaimed as Rika reached the last page of the book, where was a photo glued to it.

"So what's so … oh…" she said dimly and dropped the album from her hands. The next moment she almost fell to the ground, as her feet refused to hold her, but was supported by her digimon.

"Rika, are you alright?" Renamon asked with concern, but her tamer didn't reply, she stalked the book with an empty glare and was breathing like she had received a blow in the chest. Henry picked up the book from the ground and looked through it, until he found the last picture. When he did, his eyes widened beyond proportion. He looked at the picture, then at Rika, then at the picture again.

"Holy joke… But … Rika, if that's you on the picture, then … Ristor might actually be…" he mumbled.

"NO! IT CAN'T BE TRUE! It … is … impossible…" Rika changed from screaming to whispering, as her eyes went watery.

"That's why I tried to keep you from seeing the picture. I knew you might act this way…" Takato sighed. On the picture there were three people: Rumiko, a 4 or 5 – year old Rika, and a person, who was known to everybody only as commander Ristor. And beneath the picture there was written: "My family."

"But I was told … that he just disappeared… How didn't I recognize him after all this time?! And why … why didn't he tell me?" Rika asked herself questions which didn't require, or were impossible, to answer. Then, suddenly, they heard steps, and a shadowy figure appeared from behind the column.

"Well, now you know what actually happened. And it seems that my visit was well-timed as well. Perhaps I will be able to clear some things out for you." A harsh voice was heard, it made everyone turn around.

"Denethor?! I thought you fled during the siege of Minas Tirith! Why have you returned?" Gandalf asked a bit loudly. No one heard him entering the place.

"Yes, I did, but I have returned for a couple of days to attend to an old friend's funeral. Do not worry, I will not cause trouble for the new king of Gondor, the encounter with Sauron's armies proved clearly that I was never worthy to be even a Stewart of Gondor. Instead of progress and prosperity I brought the state to stagnancy and decay…" Denethor replied as he made several steps forward.

"I heard everything, and saw several times that picture which brought you to such a shock, and I don't have any doubts that you are a close relative to my now deceased friend. He also told me about his family several times, and I do not know what you might have heard of him, but I intend to clear his good name." he said as he approached Rika.

"Speak." She replied and wiped her eyes. She didn't like commander Ristor too much, but she kept sweet memories of her early childhood, when her family was … whole.

"We met under most unusual circumstances, about 8 years ago… This all began when I received a report from my Itilien archers, which were scouting the area dangerously close to Minas Morgul. They reported that they saw something that could be described as a fire fight. A strange person was fleeing from the gates of Minas Morgul, pursued by a battalion of orcs. When I first read the thing, I didn't believe it. It said that this person mowed down more than a half of an entire battalion with a strange weapon we never saw before. I send my best men to find the mysterious warrior and bring him before me. My men indeed completed the task, but lost a half in hand-to-hand combat. I was not sure what to think of this find. His weapons and armor were too complex for our blacksmiths to duplicate, and the poor fellow was screaming and spitting and crying something about that he had to go back to his world, and other things…" Denethor stopped to take a breath.

"We thought that whoever this warrior might be, he is insane, because he screamed out irrational and unbelievable things, so we threw him in the dungeons to cool off. In three days a guard reported that the prisoner requested an audience with me. I was intrigued. When I finally came down to talk, Ristor repeated everything he screamed in rage and madness. Only in a much more calm manner. I didn't know whether I should believe in his crazy tales or not, but his equipment and weaponry spoke for his strange story about "another world". But, from what I understood, there was no way for him to get back home…" he continued.

"The name… Ristor… It is not his real name, is it? Where did it come from?" Rika inquired quietly. The tears have already dried up, but she looked very sad and distant at the moment.

"True. When we asked what his name was, it was too long to memorize and it was hurting the tongue just to say it. Hiro…yoshi…something, I do not remember. So he took a name, like he explained years later, from his "designation number": R1ST-0R. I didn't know what for is a designation number for a person, but this was short and easy enough to use… I was impressed, however, with his skills in battle against orcs and my scouts, and since he had no place to go, I proposed him a job as a sergeant in the forces. He agreed, but under one condition: whenever a party of scouts to be dispatched on a mission somewhere, anywhere, actually, Ristor desired to come with them. I was amazed by such a condition, but now I understand that he tried to find something to bring him back to his reality… Hell, he was all over the Middle earth, as I sent many expeditions, and he went with each one…" Denethor replied.

"What are you trying to say?" Rika asked.

"I knew Ristor as a harsh, but also a honorable man. I know what you might be thinking, so I'm trying to do my old friend a favor and convince you that he didn't abandon you, and tried desperately to return back…" the former stewart answered. Several moments passed in silence.

"What happened next?" Rika asked dimly.

"Well, Ristor was not familiar with our weapons, but learned very quickly. In half of a year he already mastered the sword enough to beat our masters of that weapon. After he proved to be the best in most disciplines, I decided to grant him the rank of the lieutenant of the citadel guards. Back then they were only war veterans who served as my personal guard. He served for about 1.5 years, and in that time managed to protect me, or warn me about at least of 7 plots of overthrowing me. Being under impression of those deeds, I granted him the title of Minas Tirith internal security forces commander, or, in other words, the commander of all citadel guards. My best decision ever, it was. In six years Ristor made a remarkable job, dedicating himself entirely to his work. Maybe it was because he has given up all hope… The rest, I think, is known to you…" Denethor ended.

"Do you know … why he didn't tell me?" Rika asked, barely holding herself together again.

"I do not. And we will never now, I guess." Ex-stewart replied with regret.

"Where my … father is buried now?" she inquired.

"In the valley of the greats, where our most known kings and generals are buried. He deserved a place there… There is one more matter I need to inform you about. Although I paid Ristor generously, he never spent much of his money. In his years in the army he gathered quite a fortune, which he never spent, and now you are the only heir to that fortune. You should claim it by right, and you will never be in need of money for the rest of your life…" Denethor proposed, but was harshly interrupted by the girl.

"I will deal with it later! Gandalf, sir … can you order one of the soldiers guide me to the … cemetery? I must go there…" she asked the white wizard with a tremor in her voice.

"Of course. Ask one of the guards on the other side of the door, he will take you where you need." Gandalf replied with a kind and understanding intonation.

"Thank you. I'll … I'll be going now." She whispered as she approached the door and opened it. The rest of her friends wanted to follow her. But were stopped by her words:

"No, I must attend to this matter … alone. Please … try to understand." She said without turning her head to whom she was talking to, and closed the door behind her on her way out…

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Done. Next chapter will be ready in time.


	19. Good byes

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 19 – Good byes.

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Another chapter ready. There will be two more, and that's it. I realize my story is just too long =)

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… Rika was silently following the guard whom she requested to show her the way. Her thoughts were in a state close to chaos. Too much things happened in so little time she had trouble to comprehend them all. First, the news about the end of the war, which was quite a relief, then, a news about the death of a certain troop commander, and after that, the news that this particular commander was the person she wanted to find all her life.

She still remembered a kind, gentle man, who spent all the spare time he had from his work with her, who often was taking her to the park, and sang her songs, and read her bedtime stories… Even after he disappeared, Rika hoped that one day he will return.

And here she met another. Cunning, executive, harsh, fanatically brave, sometimes stubborn, loyal to the cause. Sharp like the edge of the knife. The person who dared to fight hand-to hand such a fierce warrior as her Renamon was, and even the all-powerful Witch-king, although not successfully. These traits were vital to become a successful military leader. During all these years he changed so much even his own daughter didn't recognize him. She compared both, they differed one from another in many significant ways, but yet they were one and the same person.

And now that person was dead. All this time, while she was living without him, she never felt the loss as strongly as at the moment. Rika didn't know why she was affected so strongly. She was not supposed to care, she didn't see her father for a long time, long enough to weaken or severe even such close ties.

Another question was buzzing in her mind. What she didn't understand was how, how a high-ranking officer was killed just like that. She was aware of the fact that casualties received during this final operation were extremely low. Most of them were regular infantry, who were not even close to elites in terms of arms and protection.

Rika knew that the certain commander had a habit of leading his troops personally, even if that exposed himself to danger, she saw him leading a small detachment of his troops to battle several times during the siege of Minas Tirith, but even so, every last tower guard was armed from tip to toe and carried a large shield, almost impenetrable to, well, anything.

"How could that have happened? Was it a blind arrow, or…" the girl was asking herself, while she followed the silent guard to her father's resting place.

"We're here." The soldier replied shortly, after they approached rather big gates, made of shiny gold-like metal. They covered with both elfish and Gondorian writings, encrustations, and were of very good craftsmanship.

"Thank you, you may go back to your post. I will find my way back. If my friends will inquire about me, tell them not to worry, and that I will be along soon enough." Rika said to him.

"Will do." The soldier replied, and left, leaving the girl alone.

The place looked more like a memorial, than a cemetery. It was not a dark, dingy and depressing place as all cemeteries are, it was well exposed to the sun light. The ground was covered with white stone, which resembled marble, and was deflecting the sun rays, making the place appear brighter.

Some sections of this memorial were covered with green grass, which was obviously brought there on purpose, and it looked cared after, like a loan. Such sections were near each "grave". The graves were made of white marble, and looked like sarcophagi, and near each there was a statue, which looked exactly like the person who has deceased, and served as a gravestone.

The place was peaceful, in the center there was a fountain, and the sound of pouring water was adding tranquility to the place. Indeed, it looked like the place of rest, not the place of death. Rika shrugged off her amazement with the place, no matter how beautiful it was. She knew why she was here – to pay a "visit".

She regretted already that she let the escort soldier go without telling her how to find the grave she was looking for, but quickly reassured herself that he probably didn't know anyway. Besides, even though she didn't know to read Gondorian writings, there were still statues near each of the graves, and there were not too many of them in the place. It was only a matter of time now…

… For about half of an hour Rika wandered through the labyrinth of the graves, searching for the one she needed to find. Her attention was repeatedly driven to the statues which surrounded her. Like it was said, they were rather beautiful, and incredibly lifelike. From a distance, it was easy to mistake them with real people.

Each person buried here was once a king, a Stewart, or a famous military leader. Each and every one of them did something important for Gondor, and they were honored and remembered for that. A country must remember its heroes…

… The girl kept searching, and searching, until she realized she was walking in circles. It was a bit a musing, since the cemetery had a form of a perfect square. Slowly, Rika grew weary of constant walking, and the bright sun, which was making her dizzy, and took a seat on a nearby bench to rest her legs for a bit. The statues with their blank glares and motionless stone faces were slowly creeping her out.

Suddenly, she spotted a silhouette in the shadow of a tree. Rika had a pretty good hunch who it was, too. She saw such countless times during her stay in buildings under protection of the guards of the citadel. Tall figure, encased in armor, large shield, a pike in the other hand.

"Must be the one to watch for the order around here. It was about time I would find someone. And I bet he knows where his boss in being buried." She thought as she stood up and went to the tree.

When Rika approached the tree, she was amazed to discover that the soldier she saw was not a soldier at all. It was another statue, yet, like all of them, remarkably lifelike. She was stunned for a couple of seconds when she realized she was mistaking a statue for a person. After the stun effect has worn off, she looked closely at the statue's face. One part of it was healthy, while the other … was made to look like it was wrapped up with bandages. There was no mistake there, this was Ristor's grave.

"At last I have found it…" she said, when she suddenly heard quiet steps behind her. Rika turned around rapidly, and faced the person who was sneaking behind her. To her amazement, it was another girl. She was about Rika's age, wearing a simple yellow dress, which was in contrast with Rika's back and silvery chain mail, which became her casual outfit ever since the siege of Minas Tirith. In her hands the girl had a small bouquet of dandelions.

"Oh…" the girl exclaimed, and dropped the flowers on the ground accidentally.

"You startled me." Rika said a bit harshly.

"Um… Sorry… I didn't mean to…" the girl replied shyly and kneeled to pick up the flowers she just dropped.

"It's nothing. Here, let me help." Rika replied more mildly this time, and helped the strange girl pick up her flowers. When it was done, the girl put the flowers in front of the statue. They stood for a minute in silence, before the strange girl said:

"Um… Thanks for the help with the flowers… My name is Lina. What's yours?" she asked a bit shyly. Although Rika didn't think it was a good time to make new acquaintances, she replied out of politeness:

"Rika. Did you know this man?" she asked and made a nod towards the statue. When she asked the question, she noticed that Lina's face expression became sad all of a sudden.

"Yes… But it was for a very brief period of time… He … well, he saved me." The girl replied after much hesitation. Her reply amazed Rika quite a bit.

"Saved you? How so?" she asked in amazement.

"It all happened not a while ago… I'm originally from Minas Tirith. My family lived here for many generations. When everybody was warned about the incoming attack on the city, I, along with my family, were evacuated to farther reaches of Gondor. Our column was attacked, and I, along with my family, was taken prisoner. The orcs that attacked us killed more then a half of the refugees, and the rest were supposed to be taken to Mordor, in slave camps… I heard some horrible stories about those places, that people who are send there never come back…" Lina stopped for a second. It was very difficult for her to talk about this.

"We were nearing the Black gates of Mordor, they are also called Morrannon, when our captors were attacked by Gondorian forces, which later proved to be the vanguard of advancing army. The orc slavers didn't put much of a fight, they ran away as soon as the advancing force gained on them. But in their ranks there were … others… Half-trolls… You know who the half-trolls are, don't you?" she asked Rika.

Rika knew who they were, she saw them at the siege. These creatures, they were very strong, yet more intelligent than the trolls, and were not affected by sunlight. Their weapon of choice was a throwing spear, and they excelled in wielding it. One of these, if thrown with enough strength, was able to go through a heavily armored soldier and hit the target behind him. Rika swallowed when she imagined the picture.

"These half-trolls decided that if they could not deliver us as slaves, they would rather kill us… I remember that one of those monsters was only in 20 passes from me, and I know that it was aiming at me… But when the spear was about to hit me … this man came. He blocked the spear with his big wooden shield, but it made a huge crack in it… The troll threw another spear, and he blocked it too, but the shield was destroyed and fell apart… And then … then … there was the third spear… And he blocked it … with his own body…" Lina squeezed out of herself. Her eyes were like made of glass at the moment. As were Rika's.

"So … my father died … to save you?" Rika said, barely keeping it together not to cry.

"I'm … sorry…" Lina mumbled.

Rika, again, experienced a state of shock. A large part of her wanted to hold Lina responsible, as if it was her fault she was there in the first place, but the other resisted, prevented her from doing so.

"No… do not be sorry… You're not to blame … for his choice." Rika replied after much internal struggle, as her eyes went watery. She strived to get control over herself, but was not able to do so. Tears dropped from her eyes as she was looking at the cold lifeless statue of a soldier in front of her. Lina's face expression suddenly turned to seriousness when she heard that.

"I owe your father my life, and I will never forget it. And I will honor his memory… Please, take this. I know it will never compensate enough for what that man did for me, but it's at least something… It's a family heirloom, it costs quite a bit of money…" she said as she took a ring from her finger and gave it to Rika. The ring was pretty simple, yet it was made of a rather rare metal.

"But … I don't …" Rika tried to resist, this sudden turn of events surprised her.

"No, please, take it! It would mean much, at least for my peace of mind. It may not be much, but I consider my life worth something…" the girl insisted and practically forced Rika to accept this shiny piece of metal. Rika looked at the ring. It was a bit ironic that the only things she had to remember him by was the fortune he earned and left to her, plus a small photo album stained with his own blood.

"Please, leave me be. Go away…" She whispered. Although Lina was a bit surprised at first when she heard it, she understood everything soon enough. She felt very stupid.

"I'm sorry… I… I will be going now… I'm sorry." She apologized again and left Rika alone…

…Several minutes have passed since that strange girl left. When Rika was assured that no one was around, she stood up from the ground and wiped her tears. A small cloud covered the sun for a while. Rika took a seat on a bench which was near the statue, and looked at the statue or a couple of more moments, as if it was alive.

"It has been some time…" she said quietly to the statue. Of course, the statue didn't reply, it was not alive, only an image carved in stone. But Rika wanted to get it off her chest. She wanted to say everything she wanted to say, and it didn't matter if the one who these words are dedicated to will hear it or not.

"I was very young when you have left our family… I asked my mother why have you disappeared, and she always replied that you will return soon. When I was little … I believed that…" she said slowly. No sounds were heard, except a slight hiss of the wind. Rika looked at the statue again, and a sad smile appeared at her face.

"Just look at me now… Sitting here and talking with a statue… If anyone would have seen me doing it, he might have thought I was crazy or something… But I don't care…" she said, as she looked upon the ring the girl gave her. "Hnh, people always value such petty, trivial and mundane things…" she thought.

"When I grew older, I started to ask my mother about you again. She didn't know what happened to you, and now I know why. But back then – I didn't… There was time I blamed my mother for your disappearance, knowing that if she is not a very good mother, she couldn't be a very good wife or something… But then, I knew that you would not abandon me even if you were in bad relations with my mother… Later I tried to blame you, but, yet again, I knew you would not abandon me… Now, I know I was right…" she sighed. Deep inside she hoped for some sign, some clue that her father hears her saying this.

" … And now I know that even back in our world, you still were a soldier… That would explain why you showed up so rarely at home when you did. And also, why no one knew what your job was … Everyone who knew you, here and there, described you as very loyal… I understand that you were a soldier, and you did your duty, and you were a patriot and that you were needed, it's just … just … you were needed at home too! You were needed when mother chose her work over me and I was left alone!" she exclaimed harshly. A powerful gust of wind had blown some flowers off the gravestone. More clouds covered the sun. The cemetery was covered with shade.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be speaking like that… Especially about the dead… I'm sorry…" she apologized to the statue. Not that it mattered to the stone.

"When I found out who you are in reality, I was shocked. Before that, I knew only commander Ristor, whose bravery was the only good thing in him, all other qualities were cold, and cruel… Hnh, sounds so very familiar… Not so long ago I was exactly the same… I guess we share those traits, as relatives…" she sighed again. The clouds were getting darker, and the wind started to blow stronger. Rika picked up a small stone from the ground and put the flowers under it, so that they would not be blown away.

"I was told how you died… What you did … it was a selfless act, you gave up your life for the life of another child… An act worthy of being written in a book… It makes me proud to be your daughter, but on the other hand … I still wish you were alive. Even though you have changed … a lot, I still would have accepted you, I know there was still some part of you which you showed me when you were a kind, good dad… We could have been a family again, we would have started it all over again! If only I knew…" she stopped because her eyes were beginning to water again. She tried to hold it once more, but it was futile…

… It started to rain. Heavy cold drops were falling from the sky. In less than five minutes it started to rain heavily, but Rika didn't want to go away. She cried, and was not able to stop. So many things were left unspoken, so many questions were not asked…

Through the sound of the rain it was impossible to hear that someone was approaching. Unaware of the fact that she was no longer alone, Rika kept crying quietly near the statue, which now turned a bit grayish because of the water.

And so she kept standing there, in front of the statue, when, suddenly, she felt that she was covered by a warm cloak. She could use one, because she stayed in this rain for some while, and was getting cold. Chain mails protect against arrows, but not against cold water.

"There you are! Thank goodness I found you! Come on, it is raining from a bucket, you might catch a cold if you will keep standing here, getting wet." She heard a concerned voice from behind her. She knew to whom it belonged.

"Thanks for the concern, Gogglehead." She replied quietly. Although the rain masked her tears, Takato understood everything. For a couple more minutes they both watched the lifeless statue in silence. Statues don't show true emotion, and the water on the statue's face was from raining. Statues do not cry.

"I will stay here… I don't care for the rain…" she whispered.

"Rika, tell me, would your … father want you to get sick because of mourning on his grave?" Takato asked gently.

"No… I suppose he wouldn't… You're right, let's go. I will return, later." she replied sadly, and followed her friend out of the memorial.

"Takato?" Rika suddenly asked.

"Yes?" he replied.

"How do you think, why he didn't tell me who he was in reality?" she asked for his opinion. After a minute of thinking, Takato replied:

"Your father had a dangerous line of work here. I think that he kept his true identity a secret from you, because he didn't want you to grieve on his death, if it occurs… Maybe he wanted to protect you from the pain you feel now, but it leads only to something worse…"

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There, done. I know, I know, mushy, very mushy. I can't help it.


	20. The Last Remnant

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 20 – The last Remnant.

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Another chapter ready. The next chapter will probably be last. I am also hoping to receive some reviews when my work will finally be finished =)

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… Even though the war was finally over, and the Dark Enemy was banished from the lands of Middle-Earth, there was still much to be done. Remnants of orcish armies were scattered across all of Middle-Earth, raiding small village in their thirst for blood and trivial revenge. Large forces of Gondorian regular infantry corps, supported by many militias, were busy in sweeping the lands from orc filth.

Even with that, more was needed to be rebuilt, than protected. The army detachments stationed in every village or settlement had to double as make-shift workers, helping to erase the scars war has inflicted. But scars that will hardly ever be healed are those in hearts of people who went through all the horrors of war…

… Gandalf, as one of the rallying figures, was, too, very busy. He knew that his time in Minas Tirith would be short, and that he had to depart sooner or later, to the place he came from, but until then he was giving all his strength to try and rebuild the city. But at the moment he was having a meeting. Yes, another meeting, and he had three more on the list today.

He had to make this one his first priority though. It was requested by one of those people he considered his good friends and allies, who arrived in this world so suddenly, and yet lend him and his cause a considerable help. The subject was quite interesting as well, because it seemed to be about those, who were considered enemies, and were taken care of not so long ago.

People present on this meeting were all too well known. Trio of children, accompanied by their digimon, Gandalf, of course, because his counsel on the matter was required, plus lieutenant Morn. Oh, excuse me, not lieutenant Morn, commander Morn. He recently was appointed to this position, replacing his deceased boss. This decision was made because Ristor held Morn in most high regard, and because of that, the rest of the troops would most likely accept him as their leader. Common soldiers respected their deceased commander's decisions.

It was more than a week since Rika discovered the true identity of Ristor. Even though it was a tremendous blow and a shock to her, she managed to get over the worst of it. She was stronger than she appeared, and managed to come to some terms with her grief. However, it was a bit of a trouble for her to look at any tower guard, mainly because of their uniforms, and "look-alikeness", they all reminded her of what she tried not to think about. This was why newly-appointed commander came to the meeting wearing a green suit of a scout, instead of trademark armor suit.

The subject of the meeting was the last vision both Renamon and Rika shared last time, when the ghost of Er-Murazor, aka Witch-king, called to them, and delivered the prophesy about the end of the war, which proved to be true, and also mentioned someone waiting in his fortress of Minas Morgul, someone they should meet…

"Well, I think you'll understand me if I will say that I have my doubts about the necessity of this mission. Once more you people seem to be anxious to get yourselves in danger, with some vision as the only clue to lead you. I still don't trust in visions." Morn said with a bit of an irony, he just didn't trust such vaunted types of proofs.

"Hey, the last time it proved to be true!" Takato argued a bit loudly.

"Indeed, to some degree, it did. But we found nothing useful. And besides, last time we were in the ruins of an ancient fortress of evil, which are who knows how old, and still there some traps dangerous enough to get us all killed!" Morn replied to that.

"We do not need you with us, you're obvious too chicken to go anyway. We were told to come without any escort." Rika said with a bit mocking intonation. Morn and Rika never got along well.

"Pfff, it's not my safety I'm worried about. You see, when our forces arrived at Minas Morgul, to our surprise, there was no one there. Not a single orc, yet we searched across the fortress about three times or so. More than that, we found that the silent watchers, the statues which had the power to drive anyone mad, were destroyed! Add to that your vision and request to come alone. This looks too convenient to be anything, but a trap." Morn sighed.

"Are you saying you have already taken the fortress? So that means we have nothing to fear now that it is under the control of your forces." Henry made a conclusion from what he heard. The others in the group agreed with him.

"Well, yes and no. We have build outposts to prevent anyone getting inside, but we didn't place any garrison inside. Even though the watchers were destroyed and all, still, that place is … tainted, and we do not intend to keep the fortress anyway. We shall destroy it in time." The commander explained. The reason was understandable, because no one wanted to be in the place where so many horrors were committed.

"I do not think this is a trap… The war is over, Dark Lord Sauron and his nine minions have left this world. In what remains of the evil empire there is no one who can stand against your powerful friends. If the Nazgul really would have wanted to trap you or kill you, they would have done it long ago, they had countless occasions. I may not know who this mysterious person that awaits you is, but I see nothing wrong in going there to find out, even out of curiosity." After hearing all the debates, Gandalf finally said.

"Still, I wonder how this figure will get past my men at the outposts. I would not be surprised if there wouldn't be anyone waiting for you. You could be wasting your time!" Morn still tried to talk them out of this.

"What do you propose we do here, instead?" Renamon suddenly inquired. This question caught the commander off guard, because, frankly, there was not much they could be doing around. After waiting for a minute for an answer, and not receiving it, Renamon added:

"I thought so. At least there we would be more useful." There was nothing to say against this.

"You sure know how to make a point." Terriermon commented, but this remark was left without an answer.

"Very well, if that's how you all feel, then I say let it be. But don't say I didn't warn you. Oh and one more thing, you will be escorted until you get to the place of destination. Big roads are dangerous these days, as the return of the refugees to their homes made local thugs and robbers bolder." Morn finally resigned.

"I thought we were all-known war heroes and stuff. Why would anyone attack us?" Takato exclaimed in disbelief.

"No one said they were too smart. But I think it's a good idea, seeing us coming with a large escort there would drive off any potential threads." Henry replied to that.

"Then this is settled. Who knows, maybe you will bring back some artifact, or treasure or anything else of value. Gondor would appreciate any help on that part, because, as you know, our treasury is empty. The war cost us much in both human and material resources. You may go there when you please. Commander Morn will arrange an escort." Gandalf said, thus, ending this briefing. When this ended, everyone went to prepare for the journey…

Early in the morning a group, made of 3 children, 3 digimon and about 12 Gondorian cavalry units, left the city of Minas Tirith, and fled towards Minas Morgul. The decision to give a mounted escort belonged to Morn, that way they were able to save time on traveling…

The road was rather long and somewhat empty. It was not something amazing though, who else would use the road that lead straight to Mordor? The road was built to connect Minas Tirith to Minas Ithil, through Osgiliath. But ever since Minas Ithil fell, and Osgiliath was destroyed, this path became quite unused…

The weather was cold, and the sky was grey. It was becoming darker and colder as the group approached the dark castle. It seemed that such weather was common in these parts. Was it caused by the aura of ones who lived in the fortress? Perhaps, perhaps not, no one will say for certain.

They were passing through what once was a village. The children and their digimon recognized it almost immediately. It, and the half-ruined wind-mill on the hill near it. This was the place where they sought shelter from the storm, long ago, when they first appeared in this world. Even though the war was over, no one returned back here. Maybe it was because there was nothing here to return to, or maybe because no one of the villagers made it through the war. These remains, these ruins would be grim reminders to the living folk about the danger of evil, which always is present, even with its armies destroyed.

"Remember this place?" Takato asked everyone else, while they were passing through the ruin.

"You bet I do." Henry replied, and put his hand to the place where he was wounded by an orcish arrow. His wound was healed, but memory will remain for a long time.

"Let's move on, we shouldn't stop in this place, we don't have any business here. Besides, it's depressing." Rika muttered, and everyone else agreed. This place brought nothing but bad memories…

…After three days of travelling by horses, with only little stops for breaks, they have finally arrived and Minas Morgul. But before that, they stopped at the checkpoint of the outpost built to keep out enemies or curious travelers. The structure was quite familiar: wooden stockade and a tower in the center. They were once in such a place, but under different circumstances.

The officer in charge of the outpost approached them practically as soon as they arrived, accompanied by about six regular foot soldiers. He greeted the newcomers in a standard military salute, ordered his men to take care of the horses.

"The word was sent ahead of you, so we expected your arrival. I trust your journey went without any accidents?" the officer inquired.

"Everything went smoothly. Any reports of suspicious activity inside the fortress?" Henry replied and posed a question of his own.

"Nothing, sir. Still, are you sure about that person who is supposed to wait for you there? We checked the area three times before your arrival, and found nothing. One has to be a ghost to slip through my patrols." Officer replied confidently.

"Hmm… A ghost, you say? Yes, I'm positive that the person we're looking for is there. Order to open the gates, we will go there immediately." Henry said after a moment of thinking.

"Yes, sir, right away." Officer said and went to execute the order.

"You know something." Terriermon said with a sly expression on his face.

"Perhaps, we shall see. Until then, it's only a hunch." Henry replied as they slowly walked towards the gaping maw of Minas Morgul…

…The dark citadel greeted its visitors just like it greeted anyone who came inside those cursed walls – with a powerful gust of wind that chilled to the bone. It gave shivers to pretty much everyone; it was a grim place, of darkness and shadow, meant to make anyone's stay here most unpleasant. To some, however, this place was home.

The group slowly went across the inner yard of the abandoned fortress. Their footsteps echoed across the place, because there were no other sounds to deafen it, at all. The place was dead, devoid of any life.

Finally, they made their way to the giant tower in the center of the citadel. Although there were some other buildings inside those fortified walls, the tower was logically the best place to start searching. Renamon moved forward and pushed the big door, made out of black metal, in front of them. With a dreadful screech, it opened. Everyone gazed at the darkness inside for a couple of moments.

Renamon picked up a piece of wood from the ground, and said to Guilmon:

"A little fire, if you will."

"Sure." Guilmon replied shortly, and set the piece of wood on fire, carefully. With that improvised torch they went inside the place, which was known as Minas Morgul's tower of black magic…

…For about half of an hour they wandered in dark and empty halls within the tower. It looked much smaller from the outside than it was from the inside. The greenish corpse-light was still coming from the walls, but, like before, was of no help. The light of the torch didn't make things much easier too, it seemed that any light would be suppressed within this place. A couple of times their torch was extinguished by unknown causes, luckily, Guilmon was always there to light it up again.

"Hey, remember how we ended up here for the first time?" Henry suddenly asked everyone.

"Uh-uh. Such memories remain forever." Rika replied.

"Yeah, it was, like, very dark, and there was that cold that chilled the blood in the veins, and after that those guys, the Nazgul, appeared… Damn, I almost peed myself!" Takato confessed, while they were going through one of the halls inside the tower. That remark made everyone chuckle.

Renamon, who was leading the way, made a few more steps forward, and suddenly stopped, and started to look around. This made everyone stop laughing.

"What is it, Renamon?" Rika asked.

"Quiet." The yellow kitsune whispered, making everyone stop in their tracks and even hold their breath for a while.

"Listen…" Renamon whispered again, making the rest sharpen their hearing for any sounds.

Then, they heard it. Steps. Someone else was here. They were rather heavy, and heard a metallic clanking about them, but were not heavy enough to belong to any of the foot soldiers. Slowly, those steps were approaching, getting louder. That, plus the chilling wind that howled in these halls, made the children shake in their pants.

"M… Maybe that's … the troops coming to check out if we're alright?" Takato proposed, as the sounds of steps were approaching.

"D… don't be an idiot, the … soldiers had strict orders … not to follow us here." Rika muttered back.

Renamon made a step towards the approximate direction from where the sounds were heard and said loudly, yet she was not used to talking loudly at all:

"Show yourself!" These words made the creepy steps stop. The silence was heavy, and was held for a couple of moments, which lasted like an eternity for everyone in the group, as they waited for some sort of an answer. At last, it came:

"I am sorry for inappropriate welcome. The military's search through this place was remarkably notorious, but they do not know this tower as I do." A mild, hissing voice was heard. It was recognized by absolutely anyone, however, it didn't have the cranium-penetrating effect, and was rather gentle. After these words from behind the column a shadowy creature appeared. In the dim light of the torch it was barely seen, but enough to be recognized.

"Nazgul?! But I thought… But Gandalf thought us that…" Henry muttered as the Nazgul approached them, if only to be seen more clearly.

"That we all perished when the Ring was destroyed? The destruction of the Ring didn't destroy us, it merely freed us from Sauron's will, and took away all dark powers granted by it. The rest of my brethren perished in the fires of mount Doom, as Sauron send them to a suicidal dive in a desperate hope of saving his precious ring…" the Nazgul replied, and slowly went down the hall, followed by the rest of the group.

"If that's what happened, how did you survive?" Renamon inquired.

"I was not there. And that is why I'm the only one remaining. But don't worry, once I will finish my mission, I will join my brothers in oblivion." The Nazgul replied dimly, as they went through the corridor that ended up in a solid wall. The Nazgul raised its hand and pushed one of the stones. Towards everyone's amazement, the stone moved, and the wall proved to be a door of some sort, it opened without a sound.

"Your … your name, it is Adunaphel, isn't it?" Rika inquired quietly. Even though the Nazgul didn't have a face to speak of, but it was obvious that this assumption surprised it.

"Yes, how did you know?" the Nazgul asked.

"We were in your abandoned laboratory in Carn Dum, and we noticed your knack for secret doors. Also, your voice … well, it doesn't sound so harsh and violent, well at least compared to some other voices we've heard." Rika confessed. After that it looked like the Nazgul chuckled for a second.

"I have to admit, the doors were my doing. They kept my research safe for quite a while, but in the end, my … former master found out about everything. Even those measures were not enough to stop his spies…" Adunaphel replied, as they were going down the long stairway.

"What did you mean when you said about joining your brothers in the oblivion?" Henry inquired cautiously.

"Nothing more than I said, when I'm done here, I will leave this world." The Nazgul replied casually. As casually as it is possible for a Nazgul, that is.

"But … if Sauron no longer holds control over you, then you are not forced by an evil will to do anything horrible. You don't have to die then!" Takato exclaimed. This made the Nazgul stop for a second and turn around.

"You are so naïve, child. Look at me, and tell me, what do you see?" Adunaphel said with a bit of sadness and irony in her voice.

"I see … a Nazgul… Sorry…" Takato replied dimly after a pause. He understood her point.

"Yes, that is right, you do not need to apologize for truth. And the truth is that I am not a human for quite a long time… Even if I will not leave this world at peace, what would I do? Where would I go? There is no point in wandering in these empty halls or across Middle-Earth for the rest of eternity. And to the people I will forever be the accursed shadow of evil that almost won. But, perhaps, these are just poor excuses of a very old woman who is terrified by the thought of being the last of the Nazgul…" the Nazgul replied a bit sadly, as they passed through countless doors of the underground labyrinth.

"I know that it will probably make you angry, but I feel … genuinely sorry for you. To come to a spot, when you have no one to turn to… It must be horrible. And now you don't even have your eight brothers to support you." Rika said, and her words surprised everyone. That wasn't something they have expected from her. But o violent reaction came from the Nazgul. Only these words:

"I am not Murazor. He was a proud man, too proud, some would say. But I … I thank you for your kindness. But I must do what I must. There is no other way."

"There is a way…" Henry suddenly replied, attracting everyone's attention.

"You could try setting things right. You may go and join the others in the afterlife, yet I doubt it will give you peace, ghosts and shadows of your past deeds will haunt you even there. Even though Sauron's power is gone, you still are a powerful sorceress on your own right. You might try helping all those in need, and believe me, after this war there are plenty of people in need of such aid." He proposed. His words shocked everyone for a few moments.

"No one in decent mind will accept my help, even if what you say is true." The Nazgul replied firmly.

"You can't know, if you will not try. And remember, that you are not doing this to receive feedback, but for your own peace of mind. Who knows, maybe in time you will be able to redeem yourself…" Henry replied kindly. His words made the Nazgul think for a while.

"I will think about what you said. Perhaps you are right, we shall see… But for now, there is something I must show you…" Adunaphel replied, as the last door opened before them. The place was dark, but not for long. The Nazgul clapped, and the room was lighted with torches, and became bright enough.

The room appeared to be round, and absolutely empty. Before anyone could ask anymore questions, Adunaphel pulled the switch, and a round opening appeared in the center of the room. What rose from it, was black, and looked like some sort of a … table. Everyone approached it to see what it really was…

They gasped in amazement for about a minute. They couldn't believe their eyes. The table … it looked exactly like the one that sent them into this place, like the one in the museum. The only difference was that it was black and the strange signs and letters were made in red. Six questioning glares were directed at the Nazgul.

"When you first appeared in these halls, you briefly mentioned the description of the devise that sent you here. "The strange artifact that looked like a table with nine symbols on it and a circle in the center" you called it. After some time since your departure Murazor remembered that we, in our experiments with magic, a very long time ago, have indeed created something similar, but the experiment failed. We created two artifacts, one is this, and the other was exactly like this one, only colors differed. They were supposed to generate enough power to break us from our enslavement. But everything went completely wrong. It didn't do anything, and after a bright flash one of the "tables" disappeared. But now I know what has happened, and I know how to operate it to send you all back home." Adunaphel said confidently.

"You … you will send us back home?" Takato asked, barely holding not to scream in cheer.

"Yes, I can. Approach the table." The Nazgul instructed. Everyone approached the table, including the Nazgul. She pushed several symbols in some sort of a code, and, in the end, the big circle in the center. After that she quickly withdrawn from the table, as a strange light appeared beaming from it.

Smiles appeared at the children's faces. Finally, after all they've been through, they could go home. They were happy.

"Good bye!!! Thank you for everything!" They screamed cheerfully, as tears of happiness appeared at their eyes.

"Save journey." Adunaphel replied, as, with a bright spark, the group disappeared…

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There, done. The next chapter will be the last. If anyone doesn't like something in my writing – I appreciate any constructive criticism via personal message.


	21. Home, sweet home

Legacy of a Nazgul or Digimon ride to Minas Tirith. Chapter 21 – Home, sweet home.

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Finally, the last chapter =)

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… With a flashing light and earth shaking the group was tossed out of the portal, which promptly closed after that. The place they have landed in was dark, and rather dusty. There was absolutely no light, only blackness. The dust was making everyone sneeze and the air was rather dry as well.

"Jeez, from one worthless hole into another… Some one please turn on the lights!" Rika managed to say before sneezing again. It felt like they were in some sort of a basement.

"I can't see a thing!" Takato replied as he stumbled and tripped over some junk and fell, making a big racket, and raising another cloud of dust in the air.

A few moments later the light appeared. Renamon, being the only one who can see in dark, found a light switch. A sigh of relief was heard when the light appeared. Everyone was tired of the dark, they encountered it too often already. The place proved to be a basement indeed, a really large one, stuffed with rather strange junk. Statues, old paintings, armor suits, old weapons and such. Takato lied in a pile of rubble, which probably was a statue he knocked over in the dark.

"It seems we are back to the museum… That must be their storage room, where they keep all unused exhibits and stuff." Henry concluded.

"Now you're telling me…" Takato replied with a moan, rising from the floor and rubbing a large bruise on his leg.

Suddenly, they heard a sound of door opening. They managed to hide behind a rather large painting, and were wondering who was coming inside. The door opened, and they saw an old man with a lantern walking in. They recognized the man – it was the same guy who met them at the "great opening", and offered to give them a tour.

"Whoa?! Why is the light switched on? I thought I told everybody to switch the damn lights off when leaving the storage! Do they even know how much electricity costs these days? Brainless little…" the old man muttered and went to switch the light off.

"What the hell is he mumbling about?" Takato asked quietly, and made a step back, but accidentally bumped into something. He turned around to see what he hit, and the nest moment fell to the ground and crawled away from it in fear.

"What the matter with you Goggle… oh my… Damn." Rika managed to say, before she spotted what terrified Takato so much. In a few steps away from them there was that accursed table again, the one that sent them into the unknown void in the first place. Their gasps and movements, however, didn't go unnoticed to the old man.

"Bah! Who is here? Come out whoever you are!" he demanded and grabbed something heavy in his hands, to feel himself armed and secure. When this was heard, the children and their digimon finally showed themselves and left their hiding place. The old man blinked a couple of times, before recognizing them as well.

"You?! But you… But I thought…" he managed to mutter before Renamon darted to him, grabbed him by the throat and smacked him against the wall, she was careful enough, however, not to break any of the old man's bones while doing it.

"You have a lot to answer for, old kook."Rika said angrily, while approaching him.

"Calm down, Rika, maybe he doesn't know anything!" Henry tried to calm her down, but in vane.

"Yeah, right, like I would ever believe that. That piece of teleporting crap banishes someone to the middle of nowhere at least tow times and that guy doesn't know anything about it? How convenient." Rika replied angrily, while Renamon held the shivering owner of the museum in the air by the throat.

"Please, I didn't do anything, I swear! The guy that delivered this to me told that they tested it… that there would not be another incident… Please … you're … suffocating … me." The old man hissed and the grip on his neck was loosening a bit the next moment.

"ANOTHER INCIDENT?! YOU BASTARD!" Rika's anger went into rage as she delivered a blow with her fist in his stomach. Considering the fact that her physical strength increased during her stay in the strange world, the blow was quite powerful. It made the old man moan in pain. Rika was about to deliver more, caught in frenzy, but Takato grabbed her hands from behind and pulled her away.

"You better tell us everything you know…" Henry said a bit malevolently as he approached the poor museum owner.

"Or else." Renamon added with a very hostile glare, and tightened the grip on the throat. That was enough.

"Please… I'll tell you everything… Just don't hurt." The old man gave up. When he said that, Renamon released his neck, dropping him to the floor.

"Speak." Rika said coldly, after she regained some calmness, and Takato released her.

"I'll tell everything… I swear I didn't see it coming… The whole thing started about 12 years ago. By that time I was already a known person in some circles, mostly for my traveling and my archeological studies. Back then I still was healthy enough to go to various expeditions. I guess that my exploits attracted attention of someone from the government… You see, the special services of this country have formed a new branch to their department, which had something to do with studying some ancient artifacts, this thing was driving dangerously close to shamanism and mysticism. Back then, I didn't believe in all that, but the amount of money they offered me for leading this branch was quite hefty… He-he." The old man said, while breathing heavily. He still suffered from Renamon's grip and Rika's blow.

"They gave me a whole platoon of ex-special operatives, and I was sent on many expeditions to China, South America, and other places where anything of value could have been found. That squad they gave me proved quite useful – we often had encounters with various smugglers, soldiers, wild animals and such. I suppose our missions were illegal…" he said, but was rudely interrupted:

"I don't have to hear your life history, stupid! Just skip to something important." Rika said harshly. The old man sighed and continued:

"Our last mission was in an ancient Mayan temple. There we found something that looked important. The table, that made you disappear… It looked very old and matched the description perfectly. But we had no idea what it could do. I ordered my men to pick it up, and bring it to the boat we used to get to the place. But when two of my men picked it up and dragged it to the boat, suddenly, it began to glow. One of my men panicked when he saw this glow and beaming light, and ran away, but the other was not so quick on his two feet… When the flash went off … the soldier was gone… Only that … thing remained. In the end we brought it where we should have, but it was then when I decided to retire. I retired after the mission, and dedicated myself to writing memoirs. A couple of years ago a person I worked with came to me and proposed to open a museum. Many ancient relics that were considered by that department as "useless", were sent to me. That's how the table came to me again. I had my doubts about it, but the guy convinced me that they have studied every last centimeter of it, and that it is perfectly harmless… Guess he was wrong…" the old man ended his story.

"Hmm… it seems that you're not to blame for what happened to us…" Takato said thoughtfully, after hearing it all.

"Yes! So, you will let me go now?" the old man pleaded.

"Last question. What was you designation number?" Rika asked dimly. The old man spent a minute remembering it, but, at last, he replied:

"R6TH-0R, I think. How did you know I had one?" he asked with amazement.

"Never mind." Rika didn't answer this question.

"So, let's get out of here shall we?" Takato asked as he went to the door.

"We have one more thing left to do. Gargomon?" Henry addressed to his digimon and slashed the blue card. In a green light Terriermon evolved into Gargomon and stepped before his tamer.

"Yes, boss?" he inquired.

"Make sure that artifact will never ever send anyone anywhere." Henry ordered, and with a maniacal laugh, Gargomon aimed his barrel cannons at the table, and unleashed a fury of bullets at the target. In picoseconds the artifact was destroyed, leaving only a pile of rubble.

"There, now when that's doe maybe we can go home? We wasted enough time here already." Rika proposed. When she said that, both Henry's and Takato's faces became grey.

"OH NO, I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THAT! My mom's sooooo gonna kill me!" Takato moaned.

"I'm going to be grounded for the rest of my life!" Henry supported.

"C'mon you people, whatever punishment will await us, it's still better than back there… Let's go." Rika replied as she opened the door and left the basement. Everyone went silently after her.

"Too bad we have to leave so soon… I was looking forward to busting some heads…" Renamon said viciously as she gave an unpleasant glare to the museum owner before closing the door. The old guy fainted…

… They weren't home for such a long time… When they disappeared without a trace, their parents moved on to drastic measures in an attempt of finding their children. The police was informed of the disappearance, they even beat up Yamaki, even though he had nothing to do with it. No one knew what to think, until, finally, their children came home.

Takato's mother was crying nonstop from seeing her child home again. His father was happy too, although with happiness came a strong desire to beat the crap out of his son for making him worry so much. That was what happened, actually, and Takato was not able to sit straight for quite some time.

Henry was in a similar situation when he arrived home. His mother and little sister were very happy to see him again, as for the father, he dragged Henry into the kitchen and they had a very long talk. Henry's father was not insensible. After hearing the whole story of what happened to them, he concluded that it was not Henry's fault, but an unusual set of circumstances. In the end, everything turned out alright…

… In Rika's house it was a bit different. Of course, everyone was very happy to see her alive, but Rumiko acted very strange. At first she wanted to tear Renamon apart, as she suspected that her daughter was dragged into the Digiworld. After her mother calmed down a bit, and Renamon was rubbing a big bruise under her eye, Rika told both her and her grandmother what happened. Rika intentionally didn't say what she discovered in that world, so that her mother would not get upset again. Rumiko, after hearing the story, wanted to burn down the entire museum, and her rage was so powerful that even her grandmother, Rika and Renamon together were barely enough to hold her. After she regained calmness again, Rumiko apologized to Renamon for the hostilities, and promised that she would never ever allow Rika to go in any place that has the chance of accidentally opening portals to who-knows where. Rika sighed when she heard that. She knew that was coming. That was even worse than getting grounded…

… Three month could last for so very long… Finally, after all they've been through, Rika was able to sleep safe, in her room, without the need of always staying alert, waiting for some creature to jump at her from the nearby bushes. This sure was better than sleeping on a horse-back, or in a cold tower, listening to the howling winds in the corridors or to dull repeating steps of a guard outside the door. Rika was happy to leave that place, at last. She has seen more than her share of bloodshed, and, finally, learned to appreciate all the peaceful moments of life.

Renamon was silently sleeping in the corner of the room. She was through a lot also, staying guard during the nights along with other troops when they were on their journey to Minas Morgul, always on the edge. Even strength of such a power and determined digimon such as herself was not infinite. From time to time she needed to rest for a while and she did now.

Rika closed her eyes and tried to sleep. She was also very tired from the journey, so she fell into slumber as soon as her head touched the pillow. She didn't have dreams, and slept peacefully – something that was not available to her during her stay in Minas Tirith. Finally, no more nightmares, no more orcs, no more Nazgul, no more Sauron, or anything else, just her room, her family, and peace.

But her sleep went undisturbed only for so long. It was very early in the morning when she was awaken by the cold morning air that entered the room through the opened door. It made Rika shiver a bit, as she got up in order to close it.

"How the hell did that thing open?" she yawned and asked herself as she closed it and went back to bed. When she was about to lie down, she suddenly felt someone's presence behind her. She froze in her tracks, Renamon was still sleeping in the corner, so it couldn't have been her. Slowly Rika turned her head to see who, or what is behind her. To her amazement, she saw some foggy substance, shapeless and floating.

"What… what is that?" Rika asked herself again as she slowly crawled away from it.

"Do not fear me, you are safe. Nobody is going to harm you." The foggy substance said with a familiar voice. This phrase didn't assure Rika of peaceful intentions of that being.

"Who… who are you?" she asked, still a bit frightened, but she stopped crawling away.

"Oh, I suppose you do not recognize me…" the strange familiar voice replied, and the foggy substance started to change its form. It stretched, and slowly gained a shape of a human body. As the vision of it became cleared, Rika slowly started to recognize. Tall figure, solid armor, big shield with a symbol of white tree on it, winged helmet, and the scarred face, which she would recognize anywhere now.

"Dad? Is that … is that really you?" she whispered as she made a step closer.

"Yes, child. It is me…" the ghost replied with a bit of sadness in his voice and hid his eyes from a direct contact.

"But … I thought you died…" she said as she made one more step forward.

"You thought right. I died. Yet I am here. You have some questions for me, I can feel it. I am willing to indulge any of your questions." The ghost replied.

"Dad, I do have to ask you something… It's important. You knew who I was when we met in Minas Tirith?" she asked dimly.

"Yes, Rika, I did." The ghost sighed.

"Then … why? Why didn't you tell me it was you? Why?" Rika whispered as she felt her eyes watering again, yet now she succeeded in holding it. The ghost sighed again.

"There were some reasons… I was not home for quite a long while. From how my disappearance looked like from your part, it looked like I abandoned you, and your mother. I assumed you would hate me for that, and thought that it would be for the best for you to be spared from such a reunion…" the ghost replied sadly. This time Rika was not able to hold her tears again.

"But that is not true! I never hated you, and always hoped that you would return some day! And mother never spoke ill of you either!" she exclaimed, as tears poured from her eyes again.

"I wish I knew that earlier… I was so very afraid that you would reject me… Hnh, look at me, not afraid of facing anyone in combat, but afraid of such a thing. I am pathetic. But, there was another reason…" the ghost of Ristor continued.

"What … was it?" Rika sobbed after wiping away her tears.

"It was when we first met. Back then I didn't know it was you, I swear! I was the one who was responsible for imprisonment of you and your friends at Minas Tirith. I was the one who was with the blade at your throat… I found out who you were when I was talking to your friend Henry at the hospital. When I found out, I was horrified, yet I didn't show it to him. I put the blade to the throat of my own daughter… Please, if you can, forgive me for that." The ghost apologized. Men don't cry, especially soldiers, but from the intonation it was obvious that he deeply regretted what he has done.

"I remember that my friends screamed my name once or twice during that fight…" Rika replied. That memory was very unpleasant, that fear she felt when the cold steel was only a millimeter away from her neck is something she was not able to forget easily.

"After I was bashed in the face by Renamon, I was hardly able to hear anything, or think properly for that matter. But I understand. Such memories cannot be undone so easily. That is why I am here…" the ghost replied. What he said surprised Rika quite a bit.

"What do you mean?" she asked in amazement. The ghost sighed again.

"When you said all the things you said when you were at my grave… I heard them. I heard every last one of them. And you were right about many things. I served many masters, and was always a man of duty, but it was the duty for my family I never took in consideration… I tried to live my life doing what I thought was right. And I did many mistakes. Then, I started to think before doing something, and did even more mistakes… When you were born, several years our family lived practically on your mother's salary. She is a model, and I was out-of work soldier. From time to time I worked as a guard in a club or a pub, but the salary was meager, compared to what Rumiko earned. That was … very demeaning. I felt useless. But instead of leaving my ego and my foolish pride behind and dedicating myself to the family, I kept looking, until I signed up for a government contract. Biggest mistake ever. But the payment was very good. The work was dangerous, I almost got myself killed more than a dozen of times, either eaten by a crocodile, or shot by a smuggler. I didn't realize back then that I would make more of a difference back at home, than earning money we didn't have an extreme necessity in by running through the wastes for some artifact." He said.

"I do not blame you. You did what you did for my own good, didn't you?" Rika said with a kind and understanding intonation.

"That's … not entirely true. Before my last mission my superior approached me and said that I have done well, serving my country, and that if I want, I could go in retirement, and receive a considerable pension for the rest of my life. But I was a glory-hunter. I knew that I would be promoted very soon to a rank of captain, and I decided to stay. The rest…" the ghost sighed sadly again.

"I know…" Rika wanted to put her hand on his shoulder, but ghosts are not material, so her hand went right through it.

"But I have returned for a reason. I have a debt I must repay, to you, and to Rumiko…" the ghost said, with determination in his voice, Rika looked at him in amazement again.

"But … how did you enter this world anyway?" she asked.

"When I died, I was very unsure what to do. I felt very guilty, and very helpless, and the worst of all was that I didn't know how to make things right. Then, I met an old man. I never saw him, but he seemed familiar, somehow. By his look, he was a warrior too. He asked what troubles me, and, after I told him, taught me how I could return to this world. He told me that it is only possible if a soul has a body of some sort, an object it is tied to." The ghost replied with sly smile, but before Rika managed to say anything, the mist started to disappear.

"Hey! Come back! Don't go!" Rika shouted as she tried to hold the mist back, only to see it slip through her fingers and disappear. Suddenly, she saw something glowing on her table. She moved closer to see, what it is, and to her amazement, it was a ring.

She recognized it. It was that ring the little girl gave her at her father's grave, but Rika thought she lost that one. She picked up the ring and looked at it for a minute.

"Is that the object you tied your soul to, father?" she thought as she looked at the ring with curiosity and suspicion.

"Yes, Rika, it is. Whenever you will need help, physical or otherwise, do not hesitate in asking me about it. Just keep the ring close to you, and I will always be there, to protect you to the best of my ability." She heard a kind voice in her head, but it was not disturbing.

"How would I ask you for help if I will need it?" Rika asked mentally again.

"Just think what you want to ask me about, and I will hear you. Always. I shall not abandon the family I am pledged to protect ever again." Her father replied.

"So… You're a soul, tied to the ring… Does this mean that you're a … a Nazgul?" Rika inquired a bit frightened.

"Technically. But I differ from them in a fundamental way. They became what they were because they were forced to do it, I became such because it was my decision. But if you put the ring on a finger of a suit of armor, I suppose I could move It around." The ghost joked a bit, and made Rika laugh.

"We will try that on Halloween." She replied and yawned. She was still a bit sleepy.

"It is still early, Rika. You should go back to bed. I will leave you at peace." The voice finally silenced, and Rika listened to her father's advice. But before going to sleep, she put the ring on her finger. It fitted her perfectly, and she felt friendly warmth going through her body.

"At last, we're a family again…" she said and fell asleep. She never had nightmares ever since…

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Epilogue…

The disappearance of 6 heroes of the war on their mission in Minas Morgul wrought havoc in Minas Tirith. Commander Morn was in rage, he ordered Minas Morgul to be taken apart stone by stone, if that would bring people he cared much about back. He felt that it was his failure somehow, and blamed himself a thousand times for not sending a battalion of tower guards with them as an escort.

But, in time, everything calmed down, the events were slowly fading into history. All six were praised as heroes, and even a big statue was built in their memory right in the center of Minas Tirith. Many stories and legends were told about them throughout Middle-Earth, some were true, some not, but it didn't matter to the listeners anyway…

But, there also were strange legends told in taverns of many cities of Middle-earth. They say that far to the north, where news don't travel too far or too often, and where the events of war that happened were not so well-known, they say that there is a strange creature. Many call it the dark wanderer, for it travels across that frozen and barren landscape on its black steed, from one scattered village to another, and when it comes, always something good happens. Many people were saved from terrible plagues that ravaged there by strange wizardry of the one who hid its face under a hood, and many bandits felt the sting of its ice-cold blade.

At first, people were cautious towards the stranger, but in time, they even began to invite the wanderer to their houses in gratitude, but it never stayed, and never spoke to anyone. When everything was done, the stranger just disappeared into the night without a trace. But these are just silly stories told in taverns to keep the people happy. They can't be true, can they?

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THE END!!!!

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Finally, it is finished. I am REALLY HOPING to receive some reviews now that the story is done =)

P.S: I can also do requests. If someone has any bright ideas – I would welcome any, and will try to comply, to the best of my ability. If you're interested, of course. Otherwise you'll just have to wait until I come up with something on my own =)

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR READING THIS STORY!!!!

Good bye for now ;)


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